


Coffee's for Closers

by peachbunny



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: 2Park Panwink and Ongniel if u squint and if ur okay with them not being endgame, Angst with a Happy Ending, I've been watching nothing but Suits lately, Lawyer!Daniel, Legal!AU, LegalSecretary!Jihoon, M/M, Mutual Pining, a helluva lot of unresolved tension, author will try to squeeze fluff into this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-19
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-03-21 07:22:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 40,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13735959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachbunny/pseuds/peachbunny
Summary: Legal firm senior partner Kang Daniel is the city's best closer, and behind this great lawyer is an equally brilliant legal secretary in the form of Park Jihoon.Underneath the titles, the court wins, and the accolades, Jihoon has been head over heels in love with Daniel ever since he can remember, and Daniel knows that Jihoon is the only one he can be his real self with. But work and love are two different things, and neither one is willing to let those two worlds collide.When circumstances threaten to break the two apart, Daniel remembers a rule he has in legal affairs: never lose.And Jihoon was definitely someone he wasn't willing to ever lose.





	1. Coffee's for Closers

 

"You can work as a paralegal or an associate intern", Haknyeon raises a glass of whisky. "Why are you taking a gap year to become a legal secretary?"

"Yes, do tell us, Jihoonie," Woojin loosens his tie and meets the toast raised by his two friends. "Why are you using your brilliant legal mind to do secretarial duties when you could be taking on an internship with me and our other batchmates instead?"

"You know the hell why," Jihoon sighs into his own glass before downing the gold liquid in one go. He grimaces as he feels fire burn down his throat. 

"Ah right," Woojin grins before downing his own shot glass. "Because your boss doesn't need a paralegal, he needs a cute ass manning the entrance to his office - and I mean ass both ways: idiot, and  _ butt _ ."

Jihoon smacks the back of Woojin's head so hard the people sitting behind their space in the bar had to turn their heads in concern.

"We both know you've been obsessed with my cute butt since middle school," Jihoon deadpans as he sinks down into the bespoke leather seat.

"You wish, Park," Woojin rubbed at his nape as he reached over the table to pour them all a third round of drinks. "I prefer cute butts that are one, non-violent, and two, don't have a huge highschool crush on Kang Daniel."

"Kang Daniel?" Haknyeon chokes on the truffle fries he was stuffing his mouth with. " _ The _ Kang Daniel?!"

Jihoon was nearly regretting having accepted Haknyeon's invite for a small reunion - he saw Woojin on a daily basis at the office, but Haknyeon wasn't always in town. It was only a blessing that Woojin chose a bar that was upscale enough for the three of them to feel successful in their polished three-piece suits, but loud enough for no one to hear Haknyeon screeching his boss' name like they were all still sitting at their highschool's lawn.

"You're the secretary of one of the best closers in town?" Haknyeon leaned forward from his seat.

"He's not one of the best," Jihoon raised an eyebrow. "He's the best."

Sitting beside Jihoon, Woojin made an exaggerated show of throwing up and Haknyeon had to stifle a laugh.

"I heard," Haknyeon conceded, sitting back. "Hasn't lost a case in all his years of practice. Do you know that they call him God Daniel at the district attorney's office?"

Jihoon felt pride blossoming in his chest, and couldn't suppress a small smile creeping on his lips.

"Oh no, that's not why our little Jihoonie's so whipped," Woojin sneered, handing Hakyneon another glass of whisky. "He's got a body sculpted by angels, a face that could launch a thousand ships, a voice that sounds so good over the phone…what other phrases do you use to gush about him, Hoonie?"

"Oh, don't sound so jealous, Woojinie," Jihoon slung an arm around Woojin. He had been at the end of Woojin's barbs and tirades for so long that he was already immune to it. "Just because I work at a better space at the office and you're stuck with the other interns near the water cooler doesn't mean I'm the one without integrity here."

"Hold up," Haknyeon gestured to Jihoon. "So you're his… _ what _ exactly?"

Woojin laughed. That usual high-pitched annoying chaos that he calls a laugh. Jihoon rolls his eyes and leans forward on his knees. "I'm his legal secretary, and I've been around this loser for so long that I forget people don't understand our jokes."

"So it's purely a business relationship?" Haknyeon raised both eyebrows.

"Purely business." Jihoon confirms, nodding his head a bit. "He's an excellent lawyer, and I'm learning more from him than two years in law school."

"The real question is," Woojin whispered as he handed Jihoon a glass of whisky, "Does Park Jihoon want it to remain purely business?"

Jihoon downs the shot to keep from directly answering the question because  _ yes, he did have a huge highschool crush on his boss  _ and that in itself was already embarrassing, and  _ no, he didn't want the relationship to be purely business - but that wasn't his shot to call. _

"Definitely," he lies through his teeth as he felt the whisky go down a bit better this time. Feeling his body slightly warm up from the alcohol, he takes off his coat and tries to hang it up on the chair when a hand catches his wrist.

"What the f-" Jihoon started, prepared to knock down the gentleman who had the audacity to keep him from hanging his own coat.

"Keep it on," a husky voice  _ commanded,  _ loosening the grip on Jihoon's wrist. Jihoon wanted to make a fuss - he had filed a leave for the evening, for goodness' sake. "I need you to come with me."

Haknyeon's eyes grew wide as he busied himself with sipping his drink and Woojin sheepishly stared up at the man. 

 

_ Daniel's blonde head with the hair brushed up and his tailored charcoal Armani suit and the signature gold earrings hanging off from both ears was always an impressive sight _ , Jihoon thinks,  _ but even more so after three glasses of whisky. _

 

When Jihoon just stared dumbly up at him, Daniel raises an eyebrow and puts both hands in his pockets. He tilts his head to Woojin and asks in a low, steady voice: "How much alcohol has he had?"

Woojin was about to reply and was raising the bottle of whisky and a glass to indicate what they were doing when Jihoon snapped out of his stupor and groaned, "Not nearly enough."

He stands up and comes face-to-neck with his boss and Jihoon curses inwardly at how huge Daniel is. He couldn’t even have a decent stare-down. "What brings you here, Daniel?"

Haknyeon pipes up from behind, his usual charming self slightly off-kilter as he makes the invitation, "Care to join us, Mr. Kang?"

Daniel flashes a brilliant smile in Haknyeon's direction before turning back to stare directly into Jihoon's eyes. "Maybe next time, Joo Haknyeon. Jihoon and I need to be somewhere for a bit."

Jihoon could feel his friends' mouths hang open even when he couldn't see it. He continued to look at Daniel's face, mustering the best "defiant" expression he could put on.

"I'm on leave this evening," he hissed quietly.

Daniel leans in to whisper in his ear and Jihoon holds his breath - he could swear he didn't have enough alcohol right now to deal with this. The only good thing about the whole scenario was that he could say he was flushed red because of the whisky, and not because the way his boss' breath ghosted over his skin gave him ideas that were not appropriate for work.

"I have 12 hours to file a countersuit for the Innisfree case," Daniel whispered, tone much more urgent than what he was using with Woojin and Haknyeon. "I need your help tonight to go through the files we subpoenaed."

"Can't you ask Jinyoung to-" he whispered back, trying to use an angry tone to tell Daniel that he had other things to do besides being his secretary.

" _ Please _ , Jihoon."

Jihoon bites his lip. Woojin was wrong. He wasn’t into Daniel for that face, that physical, that voice (okay, maybe those counted) -  he was into Daniel because he couldn't say no to the man no matter how hard he tried. And he was trying exceptionally hard now.

Jihoon waits a few beats, trying to build up a solid defense on why Daniel had no right to invade his privacy - how even did he find Jihoon in this place? He had his phone turned off just to make sure he wouldn’t be bothered by exactly this kind of attack. Daniel stares back at him, and is that a pout?  _ Kang Daniel will be the end of me. _

  
  


Jihoon sighed. "Ok, let me just say goodbye to my friends."

Daniel grinned and turned to face Woojin and Haknyeon who were unwillingly observing the obvious tension that was going on between the two. "My apologies for having to spirit him away so early, gentlemen."

Jihoon puts on his own cashmere coat with a huff and fishes out his wallet to pitch in for the drinks. Daniel holds his wrist again, and Jihoon could swear he would judo-toss his boss onto the carpet if he did that one more time.

"I talked to the owner of the establishment, all expenses for the evening have been covered." He flashes one of those smiles again.

"Haknyeon," Jihoon calls, putting both hands in his coat pockets. "You still here until next week right?"

"Of course, Jihoonie," Haknyeon replied, obviously a bit disappointed how early Jihoon was leaving from their reunion.

"Daniel's buying us another round on Thursday night," Jihoon smiles sweetly at his friends before looking up expectantly at Daniel. "At the Aubergine."  _ Two could play at this game. _

Daniel blinks for a few seconds. It wasn't easy to get a reservation at the Aubergine. He sees Woojin breaking into a grin and realizes that he'd been played, with little Park Jihoon standing triumphantly beside him. "Of course," he conceded, trying to recall if he knew anyone who could sneak in a reservation for the three juniors on such short notice. "Then I'll be seeing you Thursday, gentlemen."

Daniel turns on his heel to leave, and Jihoon had a few moments before he had to rush outside to join him.

"Sorry, guys," Jihoon bowed, "Urgent work."

"For a secretary?" Woojin raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going to kill him," Jihoon promised, "But I need to do this if I want to keep my job."

"Nah, it's fine, Hoonie," Haknyeon tutted, raising a glass. "If your boss keeps his word, I'll be seeing you at The Aubergine in a couple of days. I can’t believe you got him to do that. One last toast before you go?"

"Might not be a good idea since I'd need my wits about me when I work-" Jihoon defended, but Haknyeon pushes the glass into his hands anyway. Jihoon sighs, running a hand through his auburn hair. "…but one more glass can't be that bad."

The three make a toast and Jihoon gave them both quick hugs before trailing after Daniel.

Once Jihoon was out the door, Woojin and Haknyeon exploded in laughter.

" _ Whipped _ , Woojin?" Haknyeon said. "Kang Daniel has a tight collar on our little Park Jihoon!"

"Not sure if whips and collars are their  _ thing _ ," Woojin jokes, "But I told you they most definitely have a thing."

"Well there's definitely  _ something _ going on," Haknyeon laughs.

  
  
  


***

 

 

 

Jihoon stared outside the window as the car drove past the nearly empty streets.  _ Of course there wouldn’t be any traffic on Monday when it was nearly midnight,  _ Jihoon grouses, still upset that his evening was cut short.

 

“What are you so upset about?” Daniel asks from beside him on the backseat. The car interior was huge and both men were sidled up against the doors on either side. 

 

“That you picked me up with the Bentley and not the Aston Martin,” Jihoon snarls, “What do you think I’m upset about, Daniel?”

 

“Aish,” Daniel coos, reaching out to pat Jihoon on the head, which the younger lightly slaps away. 

 

“I’m not kidding, you can’t keep kidnapping me like this,” Jihoon squints his eyes at Daniel, who was puffing up both cheeks. Normally, Jihoon found this endearing. Today, he wanted to punch that stupidly handsome face of his. 

 

“It’s not kidnapping if you wanted to come along,” Daniel singsonged, grinning at Jihoon as he proceeds to pat the younger boy’s head. Jihoon sighs. Whenever he was alone with Daniel (okay, _ and the driver _ ), the older man reverts to a childish version of himself. 

 

“You know how much I want to be the one to  _ end  _ that case for Innisfree,” Jihoon said, leaning his cheek on his hand as he continued to watch the passing streets outside. “I should sue you for blackmail.” 

 

“I’d tell the judge you’re an accomplice,” Daniel quickly replied, stretching out his legs from under him. He glanced sideways at Jihoon’s reflection on the car window. “A very  _ beautiful _ accomplice, if I may add.” 

 

Jihoon feels butterflies rising up his chest and reminds himself to kill it before he starts feeling happy about it or, _god forbid_ , that he  _ hopes _ that he has a chance with Kang Daniel. 

 

“Liar,” he grins into his palm nonetheless, angling his body away from the man beside him. 

 

“That’s what makes me a good senior partner,” Daniel smirks. The car slows down to a stop as they arrive at their office building. Jihoon catches Daniel staring at him as he moved to unbuckle his own seatbelt.

 

“But you know I’d never lie to you.” 


	2. His Boy Friday

Jihoon took another big gulp of water. 

 

It was taking him more effort than usual just to gloss through the documents they received from SkinCare International, the company that Innisfree was suing for unlawful acquisition of trade secrets.

Jihoon silently wonders to himself if he can sue Daniel for unlawful acquisition of his secretary's time - especially when said secretary was obviously inebriated and was more of a burden than a help in combing through nearly a dozen boxes of email exchanges between various SCI employees.

"You know, I don't usually make it a habit to sift through other employees' emails at-" Jihoon exaggeratedly held up an arm to check the time on his obsidian-faced watch, "-shit-o-clock in the morning."

The two men have been at it for nearly 3 hours straight, Daniel chugging through his second mug of black coffee and Jihoon contenting himself with drinking as much water to get completely sober.

When the two prepared to hunker down and run an all-nighter, they usually come with a fresh change of comfortable clothes - but this particular overnight had been an ambush from SCI's lawyer. Jihoon contented himself with taking his coat off, untucking his navy blue shirt, and rolling up his sleeves to his elbows as he lounged back on the leather sofa in the middle of Daniel's glass office. 

 

Daniel himself was sitting across him, files strewn haphazardly on the coffee table in front of both of them, sleeves likewise rolled up and dress shirt unbuttoned to reveal the gold necklace he always wore underneath. 

 

_ And those collarbones, _ Jihoon had thought - but that was the whisky talking.

"Well the lawyer on the other side of this suit is the perfect asshole," Daniel answered, looking up from the folders he himself had been scanning through. "He complies to the subpoena by sending over these documents at 10 PM? We would have missed these files completely if Jinyoung hadn't been pulling another late shift, and we'd have them dragging us to trial while you were recovering from your margaritas."

"It was scotch," Jihoon shot back without even looking up from the nth email exchange with unnecessary corporate pleasantries that he had to read through. "You know how much I hate margaritas."

Daniel snickered, and Jihoon threw a stack of papers at Daniel.

"It was one time," he groaned.

Jihoon and margarita didn't mix well - or they mixed completely  _ well  _ if you were looking to see the usually-unperturbed Park Jihoon belting out love songs and clinging onto Daniel's back like a baby koala.

It was a company outing, and Woojin was the one who created the horribly strong margarita mix. Daniel had a blast watching his secretary try to challenge every single employee in the firm to a fistfight - even the managing partner, Boa. Long story short, Jihoon couldn't look anyone in the eye for a week after that, and had developed an understandable allergy towards margaritas.

Daniel laughed, a melodic sound that caused all his handsome features to scrunch together in a childlike grin - making his eyes completely disappear and Jihoon's heart drop to the floor. Jihoon diverted his attention back to the document in his hands.

"Have I told you that your alcohol blush matches that navy blue shirt perfectly?" Daniel grins, dropping another stack of documents onto the desk as he continued rifling through the manila folders.  "We should take you drinking more often."

"It actually looks better sleeping on a bed," Jihoon doesn't miss a beat, still playing the part of overworked secretary - even when all Daniel's stupid compliments were obviously enough to make all his effort worth it.

“Is that an invitation for me to get you into bed?” Daniel teased, and Jihoon thanked the heavens that he had an alcohol blush to hide behind. 

 

Two beats.

 

“I’d rather sleep in one of these boxes than sleep beside you and be sleeptalked to death,” Jihoon rejoiced at his self-control, but he was suppressing the urge to fan himself with his hands. He hated how flirty Daniel was when he was teasing. 

 

Especially when he knew that it didn’t mean  _ anything _ to Daniel when it was him on the receiving end.

 

“All these employees seem to care about is kissing their boss’ ass to get their next promotion,” Jihoon shifted the conversation to something that didn’t involve “Daniel” and “bed” in the same sentence, holding up a stack of documents to prove his point. 

 

Jihoon clears his throat and sits on his feet on the couch, before putting on his best “delighted employee” impression, “ _ Mr. Kim, that idea was simply marvelous - as expected of our general manager _ !”

 

Daniel raised an eyebrow at Jihoon as the boy continued, “I’d rather offer my firstborn to Woojin than write you anything as cringeworthy as this.”

 

“Come on, Jihoonie,” Daniel faked a pout, loosening his tie a bit more to pop open another button on his shirt. Jihoon-with-whisky wanted so badly to follow the fingers that were loosening the tie, but Jihoon-the-abused-secretary kept his eyes on the level of Daniel’s. “Is it too much for you to just write,  _ Mr. Kang, your hair is impeccable as always, I am so lucky to have a boss as handsome and as amazing in court as you!”  _

 

Jihoon bit his tongue. 

 

It sounded like something he would actually write, much as he wanted to deny it. 

 

“Dream on,” Jihoon scoffed, plopping back down on the sofa’s armrest. “Secretaries talk to each other, and even if you subpoena  _ my _ email exchanges - there won’t be a single phrase in there which can expand your overbloated ego even more. Hell, I have half a mind to tell Hyungseob from the DA’s office that you scream like a toddler at the sight of bugs. ” 

 

_ Those phrases gushing over you are all stored and periodically deleted in a secret Telegram chat with Woojin, _ Jihoon thought to himself, glad that someone actually invented secret chats in this universe.

 

“Hold up,” Daniel’s eyes grew wide as he dropped the file he had been flipping through. “What did you say?”

 

Jihoon froze for a while, suddenly afraid that Daniel could actually  _ hear _ his thoughts - before calming down and coming back with, “I said, people don’t know that you’re a creep, and I’m the bug spray that keeps you in line.” 

 

“No, the secretaries thing,” Daniel stood up, looking down at Jihoon from across the coffee table.

 

It just took seconds for Daniel’s stream of thought to click with what Jihoon was thinking.

 

“We didn’t think to look through  _ those _ email exchanges first,” Jihoon sat up, with Daniel reaching over to the last box they were going to flip through. They had gone over the senior managers and the supervisors’ emails first - which was nothing but a bunch of manicured exchanges meant to look professional and blameless. 

 

“Of course, I’d diss my arrogant ass of a boss every now and then,” Jihoon smiles brightly as Daniel placed the box on the desk. “And I’d most definitely rant about his inhumane treatment of me to anyone who’d lend a sympathetic ear.”

 

“I spoil you too much,” Daniel grunts as he picked up a file.

 

“See? This is the kind of tea I was expecting to see,” Jihoon flicks a piece of paper that he was scanning from the pile. “ _ Told u Mr Kim is a pig, honey _ ,” Jihoon reads out. “ _ He been checking into this sketch hotel every other month since 2015 _ .” 

 

“ _ Darling, you haven’t heard the rest of it _ .  _ Check the email that was just sent out. _ ” Daniel continued where Jihoon ended, plopping himself beside Jihoon on the couch and perching an arm on Jihoon’s shoulder. “Are all secretaries this sassy behind our backs?” 

 

“Yes, and you hired the best Boy Friday in town,” Jihoon turned to face him and immediately regretted the decision because Daniel’s face was too close for comfort, his eyes carefully studying the paper Jihoon was holding out for the both of them to read.  “But honestly, if you can read between the gossip lines, these exchanges are worth more than all those we’ve been looking through the past 3 hours.” 

 

“Wait a second,” Daniel took the printout from Jihoon’s hand. “This Choi Minji, isn’t she the one who was on the terminated employees’ list?”

 

“Better yet,” Jihoon piped in, leaning over Daniel to grab at a stack of emails he had secured with paperclips and post-it notes, “What is this email she was talking about?”

 

Daniel observed as Jihoon’s eyes remained sharply focused on the papers he was flipping through, teeth biting at his lower lip. 

 

“Miss Choi sent Miss Yoo that email on February 3rd,” Jihoon began, eyes wild with his own discovery. “But if you look at the email threads that the company had on that date - you can’t find the email announcement. And nothing else on the days before that.”

 

Daniel leaned over to confirm what JIhoon was saying, allowing his weight to rest on Jihoon’s side.

 

“They buried the evidence,” he grinned at Jihoon, who was looking equally smug. “You little genius.”

 

“I’d appreciate a raise,” Jihoon smirked, carefully filing the documents they had been looking at into a neat new envelope. “And the Aston Martin the next time you want to keep me from enjoying an evening.” 

 

“You’re only with me for my money,” Daniel playfully accused, standing up to saunter to his desk. 

 

“Why else would I be here at this hour?” Jihoon hopped over to his own laptop. “I’ll send them an invite for tomorrow morning so have your motion ready and your best shoes on by 8AM. How threatening do you want me to be in my invitation email?”

 

“Give ‘em hell _ , _ ” Daniel replied as he booted up his own computer.

 

“When have I ever given anyone anything less?” Jihoon replied, cracking his knuckles.

  
  


***

Daniel looked up from the motion he was typing on his laptop. As soon as the initial excitement wore off, Jihoon had dozed to sleep, still surrounded by the documents they had been rifling through earlier. The boy was curled up into a tiny ball on his couch, hands tucked behind his auburn hair that was now sticking up in a million different directions, and legs drawn up to his chest, feet covered in bright yellow socks with a pink puppy print.

Daniel softly laughs. 

 

No matter how many suits he bought for Jihoon to look more professional at the workplace, the boy always ended up with the worst fashion choices. He types the last few lines of the countersuit he will be slapping on SCI's face tomorrow, and clicks his laptop shut.

"Aish, he really took me up on that sleeping offer," Daniel mused, stretching his arms back before standing up to walk over to where Jihoon was peacefully sleeping.

_ If Park Jihoon could stop being adorable for just five seconds _ \- then maybe Daniel could hire another secretary, preferably one less bratty than the one he currently had. Or at least that's what Daniel tells his colleagues when they ask him if he wanted to get a secretary with more years of experience.

But truth be told, Daniel would never trust anyone else with his daily agenda, much less his 3AM overnight sessions poring over case files. For some reason that was not telepathy (they already tested out that theory), Jihoon knew exactly what Daniel needed, and when he needed it. Daniel would walk in to his office with the files already neatly laid out on the table, his usual order of a black coffee with just a splash of vanilla syrup, and Jihoon strutting in to hand him a stack of files earmarked and proofread - with clever little suggestions from Jihoon written on the margins.

Jihoon even covered for Daniel on his sick days, on his "sick" days, and was flawless at getting other people to do whatever it was Daniel needed them to do. Daniel's convinced that Jihoon's got the entire firm wrapped around his finger. With just a wink and a small, shy smile, he gets even the firm's very own Financial "Emperor" Hwang Minhyun to sift through volumes of stock trading documents.

So no, Daniel does not need any other legal secretary with more years of experience - because Jihoon was more than perfect as he was. And Daniel wonders if any other legal secretary would allow themselves to be dragged into the hard-hitting cases Daniel usually took on - which would entail working beyond their duty and sleeping in navy blue dress shirts on their boss' couch at 4AM.

 

Daniel took out a large Burberry scarf that he kept in one of his office drawers and drapes it over Jihoon.

 

“Goodnight, Park Jihoon,” Daniel whispered, running his fingers through Jihoon’s hair in a futile attempt to tame those auburn tufts into Jihoon’s usual comma hairdo, but it only ended up with the fringe all over Jihoon’s forehead - making him look more like a peaceful sleeping child than a snappy secretary. 

 

A smile broke across Daniel’s lips as he leaned in closer to trace his fingers against Jihoon’s cheek. He lingered at those long eyelashes that were slowly fluttering - _ trust Jihoon to get dreams as soon as he fell asleep _ . Sometimes, Daniel thinks that just having Jihoon around chases his own nightmares away.

 

Just like this, Jihoon looked serene and vulnerable as Daniel hovered wordlessly over him. Daniel’s gaze lowered from the bridge of his nose to those slightly parted lips, chapped dry by the endless lip-biting but glossed over with a red cherry lip balm. The entire scene looked so inviting, screaming at Daniel to just take a step forward, lean a little lower, and taste for himself if Jihoon’s lips were as good as they looked.

 

_ Just. _

 

_ This. _

  
  


_ Once. _

  
  


 

 

“Daniel, you ass,” Jihoon mumbled out of nowhere, voice heavy with sleep. 

 

Daniel froze in his spot before relief washed over him when it proved to be Jihoon talking in his sleep.

 

Jihoon shifted a bit from his touch and muttered something incomprehensible, and Daniel wanted to give Jihoon a raise just for that. He almost jeopardized the perfect working relationship he had with Park Jihoon, and that was something he didn’t want to ever compromise.

 

Chasing away his thoughts, he looked fondly over the younger and retracted his hand before whispering, “You’re truly one in a million.”

 

Daniel picks up his coat and leaves a note for Jihoon on the desk before turning off the lights and making his way to the elevators. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to keep a regular update schedule for this fic (maybe every 2 or 3 days?) ! 
> 
> Enjoy the unresolved fluff before we head to angstier waters in the coming days ; u ;
> 
> I was surprised that people liked this AU - I almost didn't post it because I didn't think a legal!AU was something anyone wanted to read.  
> Just finished outlining and it seems I'm in for at least 8 more chapters! Please stick with me 'til the end~
> 
> As always, kudos and comments (what did you like from the chapters so far???) mean a lot <333


	3. Votum et Fidei

“You do it.”

 

“No, you.”

 

“Do you know how cranky he is when he wakes up?”

 

Jihoon wanted to open one bleary eye and tell those two voices to shut up, when he heard:

 

“He’ll be even crankier if he misses that meeting and you know it.”

 

The auburn-haired secretary shot up, hair an awful mess and body wrapped in a burberry scarf. “What time is it?” Jihoon’s voice came out husky and strained as he looked around before finding the common sense to look at his wristwatch.

 

“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” Woojin greeted, sitting on the armrest of the armchair in Daniel’s office.

 

Jinyoung was sitting on the coffee table, elbows on his knees, staring straight at Jihoon. “It’s 7:30AM, and I just saw Daniel enter the boardroom-”

 

“Give me your clothes,” Jihoon croaked as he threw off the scarf and started putting on his brown leather shoes.

 

“What?” Jinyoung sat straight up in disbelief.

 

“Did I stutter, Jinyoung?” Jihoon repeated, tying his laces in a rush.

 

“Calm down, princess, I already brought you spare clothes,” Woojin smirked, tossing a bundle of clothes at Jihoon. “No need to strip Jinyoung down.”

 

Jihoon wrinkled his brow at Woojin and gave a small appreciative smile - which Woojin knew was the closest to a “thank you” he’s going to get from a barely-awake Park Jihoon. He had given Jihoon a completely hideous combination - a forest green dress shirt paired with a pink tie with an obnoxious pattern. Both items clashed hideously against Jihoon’s navy coat and pants, but the older boy didn’t seem to care and continued to pick up his stuff that was scattered on the floor.

 

Woojin almost smacked his own head for forgetting that Jihoon’s fashion sense was exactly this; Jinyoung, on the other hand, was convinced that Jihoon looked ethereal no matter what he wore. So joke was on Woojin and everyone else in the firm - they had to bear with this eyesore of an outfit all day.

 

“There’s also a note for you,” Jinyoung piped up before Jihoon could rush out of Daniel’s office and into the shower rooms in the building. He held up the post-it note that was tacked on the top of a stack of folders and Jihoon quickly took it.

 

“ _Feel free to take the day off :) -your handsome boss with the perfect hair”_

 

Jihoon crumpled the note in his hand and shoved it into his pocket. “Let’s see how perfect his hair is when I’m done with him,” he growled, marching out of the office to the amused faces of Woojin and Jinyoung.

 

**

 

_8.00 AM._

Jihoon rushed to the boardroom, checking his reflection against the glass panes of the adjoining offices a few times before eventually pushing the glass door and letting himself in. He held in a sigh of relief as he sees only Daniel and Boa casually conversing inside the boardroom.

 

If Daniel was surprised that Jihoon made it in, he didn’t show it; and Jihoon casually walks over with a folder of blank papers and made it look like those files were critical for this meeting specifically. If Daniel was surprised at the anomalous outfit worn by Jihoon, he did show it, giving Jihoon one look before gesturing at the boy’s entire outfit. “What is _this_?”

 

“You forgot these,” Jihoon ignored Daniel’s comment and handed the files over, giving a small bow to acknowledge the managing partner in the room. Daniel flipped open the folder to see a hand-drawn tombstone with Kang Daniel scribbled over it, eliciting a smirk from the blonde. “And Miss Boa - I didn’t expect you here.”

 

“Jihoon,” Boa’s voice betrayed no emotion at all, her signature poker face going well with her maroon ensemble highlighted with gold accessories. She was also used to Jihoon being dressed like he was attending a child's birthday party and paid it no mind. “It’s unlike Daniel to come in earlier than you.”

 

“It’s unlike Daniel to come in earlier than _anyone_ ,” Jihoon answered, taking a seat beside his boss.

 

“While that is true, he is wearing that _tie_ ,” Boa said, leaning back on her chair at the head of the boardroom table. “Which gives me the feeling that I was called in here just to watch Daniel gloat.” She switches her gaze to the smirking senior partner. “At 8AM in the morning.”

 

The lawyer on the opposite side of the case arrived 10 minutes late, and Jihoon nearly regretted not having styled his hair this morning. He had taken a bath in a rush and simply blew-dry his hair, giving him a full-fringe look that took his age down into looking like a college freshman than a seasoned legal secretary and law student. He had wanted to be intimidating for this meeting.

 

Lee Hyun, SCI’s lawyer, looked disgruntled as he entered in a powder blue suit and a black suitcase.

 

“Do you make it a habit of being late, Mr. Lee?” Daniel began, hands in pockets as he stood across the equally tall lawyer in front of him.

 

“You can’t expect people to come in early when they receive a particularly _irresistible_ invitation at the asscrack of dawn,” Lee replied, not bothering to hide his displeasure as he glared at Jihoon, the two lawyers taking their respective seats.

 

“Tit for tat, Mr. Lee,” Jihoon tilted his head and continued fussing with his hair as he nonchalantly sat back. “You rob me of my Monday evening, and I ruin your breakfast plans. I believe you also had to cancel a round of golf?”

 

“This piece of work is your sidekick? Associate? _Secretary_?” Lee scoffed at Daniel as he opened his suitcase and began to lay out some file folders.

 

“I’m his Park Jihoon,” Jihoon’s tone was indignant, clearly annoyed at the opposing lawyer for adding a condescending tone to the word _secretary_. “Which is all you need to know because this is our last time meeting, anyway.”   

 

“Aren’t you cocky for a small brat,” Lee responded, ignoring how unprofessional he was sounding. There was something about Park Jihoon that made you either love him or slam him up against the wall.

 

Boa was waiting for Daniel to intervene but wasn’t at all shocked to see him enjoying every bit of Jihoon’s sass being directed at anyone other than himself.

 

“Boys,” Boa started, “You can save the fistfight for the rooftop after class - but for now I’ve heard everything from Daniel to know that I can spend my time not refereeing a couple of grown men.” Boa stood up to leave.

 

At this, Lee took full offense. “And what makes you think this will end _quickly?”_

 

“Oh, we don’t just think it, Lee,” Daniel interrupted, sliding across the envelope that Jihoon prepared a few hours prior. “We _know_ it will end quickly.”

 

“Make sure it does,” Boa noted as she walked out the boardroom.

 

Lee sneered before picking up the files within the envelope. He scanned through the document for a few seconds before looking up. “What the hell is this? You’re suing my client for destroying evidence?”

 

“Oh is that what it says?” Daniel feigned ignorance, pushing another file towards Lee. “Must have missed this.”

 

“You’re suing me too?!” Lee interjected after he had scanned that document as well.

 

Jihoon smirked behind his fingers. Daniel was leaning on his elbows on the desk, confident and relaxed.

 

“Tell you what, Lee,” Daniel continued, eyes never breaking contact with the opposing lawyer. “I’ll cut you a deal - your client pays for all the damages done to Innisfree’s goodwill, and this will all go away.”

 

“Are you threatening me, Kang?” Lee was obviously bluffing at this point, sweating bullets despite the airconditioning in the boardroom.

 

“ _Choi Minji_.” Jihoon piped up from beside Daniel. “I’m having coffee with her this afternoon.”

 

The name obviously struck a chord with Lee. Choi Minji was the secretary with the deleted email history in the subpoenaed files. If she testified at trial, it was more than incriminating for SCI since she knew all the shady deals that their CEO made.

 

“You didn’t cover all your bases when you tried cleaning up the skeletons in your closet,” Daniel smirked. “And honestly, tampering with evidence? You might as well run back to your client and tell them they’ll be spending the next 20 years in jail for felony.”

 

Daniel paused before tilting his seat towards Jihoon.

 

“Do they allow skin care products in jail, Jihoon?”  
  
“I don’t think so, Daniel.”

 

“Well, there we go. So it’s either you take my deal and cough up that hundred million settlement fee, or we go to trial and I will make sure that _each and every_ employee on that distribution list ends up behind bars until they’re old enough to not give a shit about skin care at all.” Daniel sat back. “How’s that for a threat?”

 

Lee gritted his teeth and started to uncap his pen and sign the document for settlement.

 

Smiling on the side, Jihoon had to keep himself from applauding.

 

Jihoon lived for moments like these - when he’s taken back to the first time he’d seen Daniel in action back when he was working at the district attorney’s office. The way Daniel took command of a conversation and the way he laid down arguments into a solid victory; and the way a smug smile crept up his face when everything worked out according to plan.

 

Jihoon had always been attracted to victory, and no one exuded it quite like Kang Daniel.

 

Which was why he was also going to kill Daniel after this - for even thinking that he’d take a day off and miss this moment.

 

“And Lee?” Daniel stood up and buttoned his suit as Lee tried to rush out of the boardroom. The opposing lawyer grunted in response. “The next time you say _secretary_ in a way that makes it seem like you think they’re beneath you - just remember that it was _my_ Jihoon who brought you to your knees today.”

 

***

 

“I’d have to say, Jihoon, I thought we were long past the time of your brave and bold fashion choices?” Daniel grinned as he sipped his black coffee. The two had walked out of the boardroom and were chatting along the corridor across the firm’s file room.

 

“I’d have walked in there wearing the clothes of Jinyoung’s back if I had to,” Jihoon crossed his arms and leaned back on the wall as he watched the other employees’ walk past them. “Because a certain senior partner decided that I could take the day off.”

 

“You deserved a day off,” Daniel smiled. He wanted Jihoon to take the day off to rest after an all-nighter, but he was happy that his secretary was there when he delivered the finishing blow. It flattered him to think that Jihoon wanted to be there for that moment as well.

 

“I deserved to see the look on Lee’s face when you won,” Jihoon tutted, looking down at his nails as he buffed them against his coat.

 

Daniel grinned. “Are you mad at me now?”

 

 _No._ Jihoon looked up at Daniel. “Yes.”

 

Daniel fished something from his pocket as he placed his coffee on top of a shelf. Jihoon raised an eyebrow.

 

“Will this make up for it?”  

 

Daniel held up a hand, dangling a necklace that had a ring hanging off of it in front of Jihoon.

 

“Is this a bribe?” Jihoon asked. His heart was racing, and he didn’t want it to.

 

"It’s not a raise," Daniel smiled. "But it's something to commemorate our 50th win together."

 

Jihoon looked at the golden ring that hung on a platinum chain, Latin words embossed on the inside.

 

 " _Votum et fidei_." Jihoon read.  He looked up at Daniel and his boss had that silly grin that made him look like a bunny. A smile he only uses when he's comfortable with the person beside him. "I sincerely hope this isn't Latin for "stress and overtime".

 

"Vow and Trust." Daniel replied, looking at the floor.

 

Jihoon had no snarky comeback for that. Not when Daniel said it sincerely.

 

" _Vow and trust_ ," Jihoon nodded, offering a genuine smile and slinging the jewelry around his neck.

 

“I’ve had it since forever,” Daniel explained, “And I believe it belongs to someone who deserves both my word and my trust.”

 

A million thoughts raced in Jihoon’s mind, a million possibilities _why_ Daniel would do this - but he convinced himself that it was okay to be _just thankful_ that Daniel trusted him. And cherished him enough as a secretary to do something like this.

 

But a small part of him wanted it to be more, _knew_ that it could be more - if he just reached out to Daniel, and if trust and promises were enough.   

 

Their moment was disturbed by a faraway voice calling out, "Daniel?"

 

Daniel's eyes blew wide at hearing his name, and Jihoon raised an eyebrow. "Someone's looking for-"

 

"Shhh!" Daniel pulls Jihoon into the firm’s file room abruptly. The entire file room was dimly illuminated by a few fluorescent lights, considering that nobody stayed in the file room to actually leaf through the document vault.

 

Once the door was shut, the two could still hear the voice calling out for Daniel.

 

"Wasn't that Jisung?" Jihoon jerked a thumb at the door as he straightened his mismatched ensemble, barely grasping why there was a need to hide from a partner in the firm.

 

"Yes, and as you can see, I'm trying to avoid him," Daniel hissed, positioning Jihoon between him and the door like the smaller boy could hide his huge frame.

 

"Do I want to know why?" Jihoon crossed his arms, leaning back on the door as he shot Daniel an incredulous look.

 

"Let's just say I owe him a document that would win him a case, but I don't have it yet and I promised him I'll have it by…last week." Daniel smiled sheepishly, but was once again startled when Jisung's footfalls started getting louder. "Shit, shit!"

 

Jihoon rolled his eyes. He had to do everything for this huge child.

 

“Are you certain this is an emergency?” Jihoon enunciated, voice serious.

 

“Yes!” Daniel whispered in response, “He can get me suspend-”

 

Jihoon reached up suddenly, ruffling Daniel's impeccable hair before pulling his tie loose.

 

"What are you doing!" Daniel hissed, taken aback by how unbelievably _forward_ Jihoon was behaving. Furthermore, it was _not the time_ for this kind of thing. Daniel could feel a blush run up his cheek because - _holy shit,_ Jihoon did not just drop to his knees in front of him and was now pulling at his belt.

 

"Just play along," Jihoon snarled, taking one of Daniel's hands and putting it on top of his auburn hair.

 

"Play along with what?!" Daniel was now beyond scandalized, a scarlet blush rushing to his ears and cheeks.

 

"Pull at my hair when I pinch your shin," Jihoon ordered as he put both hands behind Daniel's thighs. The younger man waited for the click of the door to signal that _yes_ , Jisung was indeed entering the file room, before he gave a particularly sharp pinch to the back of Daniel's leg.

 

Sure enough, a small, choked sound came out of Daniel just as the door swung open as he tried to keep from screaming at Jihoon to knock it off, and the tug on Jihoon's hair made the younger grunt in pain as well.

 

“Oh my god,” came Jisung’s voice from the entryway.

 

If Jisung could bleach his eyeballs and his brain along with them, he would. Jisung had come in expecting to find the partner-and-secretary duo dutifully running through documents in the file room - not Jihoon kneeling on the floor with his hair all tousled in front of Daniel, who had his belt undone and sucking in air between his teeth.

 

"Oh, hey Jisung," Jihoon whipped his head around and pretended to wipe at his mouth. "We were just-uh, _celebrating_."

 

Daniel was awkwardly still processing what just happened but remained casual. "Hey, Jisung," he greeted sheepishly.

 

No response.

 

"Do you want us to, move elsewhere or-" Jihoon continued, batting eyelashes innocently at the scandalized older man.

 

Daniel was worried that Jisung would faint right then and there.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The file room scene actually happened in the TV series - but I had to find a way to put that in here :---) 
> 
> Might edit later once I find the time~
> 
> Thank you so much for everyone who has been commenting and sending kudos! Can't wait to show you all what happens in the coming chapters :D


	4. Where is Your Boy Tonight

"Please don't tell anyone, _please_ ," Jihoon put on a cutesy tone, standing up to bow low in front of Jisung.

 

Daniel was sure this wasn’t going to work, but he bowed down low as well. He’d have two hells to pay Jisung now.

 

“Jihoon,” Jisung warned, but it sounded a lot like pleading.

 

“If Boa finds out, I’m out of here,” Jihoon whispered, hanging his head low in mock humility.

 

Daniel probably underestimated how close Jihoon was with Jisung, because all he got was a judging glare from Jisung and then the older man simply nodded and walked away.

 

When both of them were sure that Jisung was out and no further disturbances would arrive, the two broke out laughing.

 

“How sure are you nobody will know?” Daniel asked as he tried to catch his breath.

 

“Let’s just say he owes me,” Jihoon replied. “And honestly, this office will be a lot less adorable without me walking around it, and he couldn’t afford that.”

 

“That was incredibly risque,” Daniel tried to wipe some tears off his eyes. “But thank you, Jihoon.”

 

“Just deny it if anyone brings it up,” Jihoon snickered, running fingers through his hair to massage his scalp. “You didn’t have to yank so hard.”

 

“Well, you didn’t have to pinch _so hard_ ,” Daniel fixed his tie, “I make perfectly good noises without painful prompting.”

 

Jihoon laughed, and the warmth on Daniel’s cheeks refused to go away. “You could’ve briefed me before falling to your knees, though,” Daniel whined as he combed through his hair.

 

“Briefed?” Jihoon raised an eyebrow, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.

 

Daniel did not need this. Not right now. Not after he saw Jihoon on his knees looking up at him through those eyelashes, not when he had heard _that sound_ when he yanked at Jihoon’s hair, and definitely not when his mind was replaying how Jihoon roughly pulled at his tie and belt.

 

In all honesty, Kang Daniel needed a moment right now - and he didn’t want Jihoon standing in close proximity.

 

“ _Rude_ ,” was the only thing Daniel can manage, much to Jihoon’s delight. The younger man was having a field day with this cop out. “Where did you even come up with that idea?”

 

Daniel half-hoped that maybe it had been an idea playing in Jihoon’s mind for a long time, because he definitely had it in his. That little episode they just had was sure to come up in one of those awkward dreams he had about his snarky secretary.

 

Jihoon was brilliant, yes - and even if he didn’t want to admit it, Jihoon was the closest person he had in his life - but there was no denying that Jihoon was _beautiful_. And as much as Jihoon exaggerated his claims to being a good-looking man, he had every right to brag. Daniel knew a lot of the associates have expressed interest in Jihoon, and he laughed them off by saying that they wouldn’t like Jihoon half as much if they knew how much of a brat he really was.

 

But truth be told, Kang Daniel was only a man and he was not immune to those beautiful eyes, those lips, that beautiful figure and those elegant motions. Especially not when they were looking up at him in a compromising position a few minutes earlier.

 

“Saw it on TV once,” Jihoon shrugged nonchalantly, proceeding to actually pick out some files on the shelf beside Daniel’s head. _This little jerk will be the end of me,_ Daniel hissed in his mind as he got a whiff of the mint shampoo on Jihoon’s hair. “Didn’t think it’d actually work, though.”

 

“Well it worked, alright,” Daniel’s voice unintentionally lowered to a growl as he pushed Jihoon gently against the file rack, “In more ways than one.”

 

Jihoon looked up in confusion before catching the meaning behind Daniel’s dark eyes. Jihoon swallowed slowly, because he had been trying his best to keep this kind of interaction between them to exaggerated teasing. But now that he looked straight into Daniel’s eyes - he realized it was a dangerous game to play, and he had everything to lose.

 

Because he definitely likes what he sees.

 

“What do you mean?” Jihoon nearly stutters, fingers tightly clutching the files in his hand as Daniel towered over him.

 

“Let’s just say that if you pull that stunt again,” Daniel eyed the way Jihoon’s tongue darted out to wet those chapped lips and that familiar cherry lip balm that had nearly broken his focus the night before. “You’d be on your knees for a lot longer.”

 

It was definitely a dangerous game as the two stood there silently, too close for comfort, eyes focused on the other’s face; even if they both knew the rules - even if this wasn’t supposed to happen. Both of them let it linger in a slow and silent game of chicken, and Jihoon is starting to think that maybe it’s okay to lose, and maybe something can happen if he just stands on his tiptoes and reach out and -

 

“Ha,” Daniel breathed, tone childish as he rocked back on his heel. “That’s payback!”

 

Jihoon blinked. Daniel was sticking his tongue out and holding up a peace sign as he leaned back on the opposite file rack.

 

Jihoon wanted to scream. It was so close. He wanted to get angry because - _how dare he?_ It was like dangling a carrot in front of a _very hungry_ rabbit. But the one who gets mad loses, and Jihoon had already lost to Daniel enough times in this lifetime.

 

“Like that was anywhere near believable?” Jihoon scoffed, turning around to rearrange some more files. He busied himself with the details for the next deposition, the firm’s upcoming events, coffee with Woojin in the afternoon, _anything_ but the man-child giggling behind him.

 

“It works on other people,” Daniel shrugged, patting Jihoon on the back as he breathes out in relief. He had almost passed the point of waving off his actions as a joke.

 

“You underestimate me, Daniel. I’m not most people,” Jihoon had collected himself enough to turn back around and raise an eyebrow as he slapped the new files across Daniel’s chest. “I’m Jihoon.”

 

***

 

 

"How did it feel _dicking around_ with your boss in the fileroom?" Woojin sneered, hand squeezing at Jihoon's shoulder.

 

"Jisung told me he wouldn't tell a soul," Jihoon whined.

 

"You forget, my friend," Woojin answered, placing his own americano beside Jihoon's, "I have no soul."

 

Jihoon took the time to explain to Woojin that it was a cover-up for Jisung not to suspend Daniel, nothing happened, _the fileroom was most definitely not defiled_ , and for the millionth time, no, he didn't have that kind of relationship with his boss.

 

"And here I was thinking I'd finally know just how _big_ Kang Daniel is," Woojin joked, taking a sip of his americano.

 

"I don't even want to ask why you're interested in knowing about _that_ ," Jihoon dismissed the idea as he sipped on his drink as well.

 

"Come on, guy like that? All those shiny cars and flashy suits? He's obviously _overcompensating_ for something." the younger of the two grinned, snaggletooth showing at the corner of his mouth as he waggled his eyebrows. "Poor Daniel. At least he's larger than life at everything else."

 

Jihoon's first instinct was to jump to Daniel's defense, but he figured that his boss' _size_ wasn't exactly a worthy battle to lay his life down for. "I am not wasting my spit arguing about this," Jihoon replied.

 

"I figured," Woojin had to have the last say. "All that spit went to good use in the fileroom after all."

 

Jihoon aimed a kick to his friend's shin, earning a loud yelp and a few muttered curses from Woojin.

 

"Speak of the devil," Woojin raised a finger to point outside the glass window of the café after he was done nursing his now-bruised leg, "There's your boss right there."

 

"Uh-huh." Jihoon barely looked up from the notes he was taking down in his agenda. Woojin had played this _look, there's Daniel!_ gag so many times that Jihoon wondered how he even fell for it in the first place.

 

"No really, look up," Woojin was annoyingly slapping his friend's shoulder now, disturbing the handwriting that Jihoon was trying to keep neat.

 

"Why can't you be a pain in someone else's ass," Jihoon hissed as he sharply pulled away from Woojin but complied and raised his eyes to look at the street opposite the café.

 

Sure enough, there stood Kang Daniel, still dressed in his impeccable black suit and that burgundy silk tie that he only used when he was assured of a victory. Jihoon smiled. He had gifted Daniel that tie years prior - a celebration of the first case they won as lawyer-and-secretary. For all the other cases after that, Daniel wore it on the day he closed them.

 

Suffice to say, the tie was used very, very often.

 

He was half-hoping that Daniel would look up and see him and Woojin, he'd give a small wave, and Daniel would come in the café for some after-work drinks and some light banter - a small victory celebration for their Innisfree win.

 

"Why don't you wave him over," Woojin rolled his eyes. For all the grossly exaggerated jokes he made about Jihoon's long-time obsession with his boss, Woojin knew from the way Jihoon's eyes sparkled and his mouth sincerely smiling that Kang Daniel made his best friend ecstatic.

 

He just hoped Daniel knew what he had and not take it for granted.

 

"Shut up," was all Jihoon could reply, but his hand was indeed prepared to wave over to Daniel as soon as the man's head raised from fiddling with his phone across the street. _Come on, Daniel, look up._

 

Daniel did raise his head, but it was in a sidelong glance - and a red-haired woman dressed in a beige trench coat and matching snakeskin stilettos strutted towards him.

 

Woojin frowned. Overcompensating or not, Daniel never had a shortage of dates - and women as gorgeous as the one they were now looking at was probably the first in line for this week. His mind went on overdrive trying to find a way to safely steer the conversation away from the inevitable, as he felt Jihoon slightly stiffen beside him.

 

"Must be his cousin," Woojin dismissed, turning in his seat to face Jihoon, hoping that the older boy would turn to him as well and avoid the scene going on in front of them. "You won't believe what Minhyun did today!"

 

"His relatives aren't in town," Jihoon's voice dropped from hopeful to despondent, and Woojin hated why Jihoon had to wear his heart on his sleeve whenever this was the subject of the conversation. He saw Jihoon's eyes gloss over before abruptly dropping back to his notes, prompting Woojin to look back up at Daniel across the street.

 

Daniel was kissing the woman, and while it wasn't anything new to see couples sucking face in the street, Woojin inwardly cursed at noticing that he was there in the first place and calling Jihoon's attention to it.

 

What Daniel did with his free time and his lips and the many women he met with on a regular basis was totally his own business, but Woojin had a responsibility to make sure that Jihoon stayed as oblivious to it as possible.

 

Woojin watched the whole scene as Daniel's Bentley arrived and he ushered the woman inside before crossing over to the other side to get in as well. The car drove off as soon as the door closed shut.

 

"How was your deposition with Hwang Minhyun?" Jihoon's voice was back to normal, but Woojin knew it was a cover-up.

 

"The emperor blew the competition out of the water," Woojin grinned. If Jihoon wanted to deny everything that was going on, then he was going to play along. "It's funny how people think he's all calm and clueless - the man's an absolute beast."

 

"I pity the fool who thinks Hwang Minhyun clueless," Jihoon scoffed, but his grasp on his pen remained tight.

 

He was thankful that Woojin regaled him with ridiculous anecdotes about being Minhyun's intern, it was almost an effective distraction from the reality he witnessed with his very own eyes a few moments prior.

 

Jihoon loved Daniel, really did, and if it meant that he had to hide his heart and remain a loyal secretary then so be it - if it meant that Daniel would love just about anyone except him, then it wasn't Daniel's fault. Being loved was a gift, and as with all gifts, there was no obligation to love anyone else back.

 

So Jihoon knows them all by name, writes up the initials of beautiful and successful women all over Daniel's after-work agenda. But that was all they were to Jihoon - just a bunch of letters that amounted to one-night-stands with his boss that was none of his business. But it was at times like these, when he actually _sees_ the women he only slots into Daniel's schedule, that things get rough and Jihoon could grasp the reality of his situation.

 

That woman will know how it felt to caress Daniel's cheek and scratch her fingernails at those broad shoulders.

 

Someone else will feel what it was like to be touched by Daniel and hear words whispered in their ear at the heat of the moment.

 

Maybe another woman will get to see how peaceful Daniel was when he was still asleep and the sun was just rising.

 

And maybe another someone will capture Daniel's heart someday, and appreciate him as much as Jihoon does.

 

As for Jihoon, he just needed to come to terms with it: that for Daniel, it will always be someone else, and never him.

 

“Earth to Jihoon!” Woojin called, snapping Jihoon back from his thoughts. “I said, I’ve got an acquaintance who would love to go on a date with you at The Aubergine tomorrow, whad’dya say?”

 

Jihoon sighed before he turned to Woojin. His friend usually joked this way, because Woojin knew that Jihoon would always say no.

 

“Sure,” Jihoon forced a smile. “Why not?”

 

***

 

Daniel squeezes his eyes shut as the redhead in his arms kissed harder. He had her pinned against the wall of his apartment overlooking the city - the dim lights of his apartment almost no match for the bright city lights below them. It was an exhilarating view on the 24th floor, and his lady friend was the perfect match as she wrapped long legs around his own bare waist.

 

It was the perfect date - an evening of light meals and a bottle of red, classical music from a string quartet, an upscale restaurant in the posh side of town, before a few whispers on his ear and a few subtle glances and they were on the way back to his apartment and their clothes were on the floor.

 

But it doesn’t feel right because Daniel can barely remember her name, and for each breath of “Daniel” from her lips he wanted to squeeze his eyes tighter and recite a poem entirely made of Jihoon’s name against her skin.

 

It’s when she drops to her knees in front of him that he recalls the events of that morning all the more, and he fights back the urge to send her away because it doesn’t feel right - she doesn’t look anywhere near as radiant as Jihoon had.

 

But that was the thing - he had no intention of pulling Jihoon into some kind of relationship that may or may not work out; not when everything is fine just the way it was. Falling in love and staying in love was something not even he could lawyer around with - and he had enough reasons to not want Jihoon in a mess with him.

 

He doesn’t like how she pulls at his belt the way Jihoon had, but he lets her anyway.

 

Because if he can’t have Park Jihoon, then he sure as hell can play pretend.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure what made me decide to use unresolved tension, mutual pining, and angst in one fic because I have the urge every few seconds to turn this into G-rated FLUFF 
> 
> Hope you're enjoying the frustrating feelings of these two boys, can't wait to write jealous!Daniel in the next chap! 
> 
> GUESS WHO JIHOON'S DATE WILL BE
> 
> (also thank you so much everyone for the support so far, I'm hoping to keep the pace but work is getting really busy for the next few days aaaa please comment and send kudos to fuel my hand to write!)
> 
> Alternatively feel free to scream at me over [Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/cheesehoonie)


	5. I Wanna Just Be Bad For Us

Jihoon fidgeted in the leather seat, keeping himself from looking at his watch every few minutes because he was trying _not_ to look nervous in front of the firm’s managing partner. The said managing partner was standing across the heavy wooden table with the files immaculately stacked, hands on her hips as she towered over Jihoon in her stilettos.

 

“Seeing that Daniel killed it with Innisfree, and he helped Jisung out with Mexicana as well; I figured he could handle this one on his own.” Boa dropped a file on the table in front of Jihoon. “But I may be wrong if he’s not yet here when I need him to be.”

 

“He’s just in a morning meeting,” Jihoon assured, knowing full well that this case was something Daniel had wanted to work on since forever.

 

“I know all about his _morning meetings_ ,” Boa raised a hand to dismiss Jihoon having to cover for his boss for the nth time. “But Daniel’s not the only one who wants this case, Jisung and Minhyun have both asked for it as well - and those two can actually work together peacefully to make this happen.”

 

“I can make it happen in half the time,” Daniel strutted into the office, casually unbuttoning his gray suit as he took the chair beside Jihoon. “And what are you doing at my desk, Miss Boa?”

 

“Nice of you to join us, Daniel,” Boa didn’t hide the displeasure in her voice as she took the seat across Jihoon and Daniel from her desk. “Who was it this time? Eunha? Jihee?”

 

“I think it was Soomi?” Daniel smirked, tossing his head back.

 

“It’s Jiyeon,” Jihoon deadpanned as he handed the file over to his boss. “The least you could do is remember their names, Daniel.”

 

Boa glanced over at Jihoon. How the boy managed to know even these kinds of details in Daniel’s life, she would never understand - Jihoon was either a masochist or a really devoted fanboy.

 

“So,” Daniel started as he flipped through the files. “The first major acquisition for Eider, the first client we’ve had the pleasure of signing - I thought you’d never trust Eider with a - how did she put it, Jihoon?”

 

“Glorified jerk? Serial sweet-talker?” Jihoon offered, expression barely changing. “Slave-driving boss?”

 

“Ah, there we go. A _handsome casanova_ like me?” Daniel rolled his eyes at how unhelpful Jihoon was when he wanted to be - but this kind of banter was nothing new - Boa barely batted an eye.

 

“It’s yours,” Boa started and gave a smile, but the two didn’t miss the meaning behind it. Boa never did anything for charity, and she definitely did not hand out major cases just because she was playing favorites with Daniel. “But I need that case closed in 36 hours.”

 

Daniel’s expression soured. “How come I get a deadline?”

 

“You wanted to work on this case _solo,_ ” Boa explained, standing up to cross over to Jihoon and Daniel’s side. “And you wanted a chance to show that you could become name partner in this firm.”

 

“I’m technically not doing it solo,” Daniel gestured over to where Jihoon was sitting, but his interest was definitely piqued now that the possibility of becoming _name partner_ was on the table.

 

“As good a secretary as Jihoon is, he’s not a senior partner,” Boa replied. “Eider asked for two senior partners to work with them on this, to show them how valuable they are to us as a client - but I tried to pull some strings for them to relent to working with just you.”

 

“ _Just_ me,” Daniel scoffed. “Just? They should have been flattered.”

 

Boa ignored Daniel’s feigned insult and Jihoon rolling his eyes and continued.

 

“So either you take it, or I award it to Jisung and Minhyun, but now’s the time to back the talk you’ve been dishing out.”

 

“And if I don’t?”

 

“Then I’ll pull in a partner to work with you on the 37th hour.”

 

Jihoon looked at Daniel to gauge his expression.

 

Daniel liked working _alone_ , and he’s had difficulty working with other partners before. They were either too slow to catch his drift, or there was always some sort of pissing contest to see who drove the case better. Some partners have tried to establish a friendly relationship with Daniel before getting into a case with him, but the man had an unbelievable talent for shutting out his personal life whenever he was working.

 

Simply put, Daniel wanted to win at all costs - and personal ties would always take the backseat.

 

It was something Jihoon admired and hated at the same time, and he took a certain pride at being the only one Daniel opened up to both personally and professionally. _But never romantically_ , a small voice piped up in his head and Jihoon quickly put it to sleep.

 

“Deal.” Daniel stood up to button his suit and shook Boa’s hand.

 

“Good,” Boa replied as she rose from her seat and walked out of Daniel’s office, stilettos creating muffled clacks against the carpet. “I’ve arranged for you to meet the Eider CEO this evening. Blow them away.”

 

Daniel and Jihoon look at each other as Boa left.

 

“Guess I won’t be joining you at The Aubergine tonight,” Daniel clacks his tongue. “I’d keep you here, but then again you do deserve that Innisfree night back.”

 

 _If you’d ask me to stay, I would._ Jihoon thought. _I’d stay a thousand nights over if you just ask._

 

Instead, he replies, “I would rather have your name on the wall than on the guestlist of some nightclub.” Jihoon replied as he laid out Daniel’s agenda for the day.

 

“I already cleared out your day so we can look over the company files, and I booked that evening with the Eider CEO. ” Jihoon recited, and Daniel looked fondly at him. “I heard from her secretary that she enjoys fine dining, so I hope you’re prepared to delight her over a French degustation this evening.”

 

“How were you able to come up with all this?” Daniel grinned. “Boa just dropped the package.”

 

“You do your job, I do mine,” Jihoon explained as he walked over to Daniel and reached out to his tie. Daniel nearly flinched, memories of yesterday still vivid in his head. But Jihoon did no yanking, no abrupt pulls, only a slow, gentle hand adjusting Daniel’s collar as he carefully readjusted the olive green tie.

 

Jihoon catches a glimpse of some light bruising on Daniel’s throat as he did, and he feels that familiar pang of dull pain creeping up from the tips of his fingers into the weight on his chest. He wonders if that woman even bothered to adjust Daniel’s tie before she left. He hoped she did, because Daniel deserved that much at least.

 

Daniel looked at Jihoon as the boy smoothed his tie one last time before looking up at him. He could swear this looked perfectly domestic, and the feelings of wanting to keep Jihoon for himself and looking at nobody else bubbled up in his chest - because Jihoon looked ethereal with the sun bouncing off his hair, giving it a golden shade, and tinting those beautiful eyes with sunlight until they looked like pools of honey. And at that moment he looked perfect - _no, he is perfect -_ and Daniel had no right to him.

 

“Just try to keep yourself from getting into bed with her until the 36 hours are up,” Jihoon broke the moment once again with one of those snarky quips. “You wouldn’t want to lose a case just because you can’t keep Daniel Jr. in control when you’re in front of gorgeous people.”

 

“You underestimate me _and Daniel Jr._ , Jihoon,” Daniel ruffled Jihoon’s hair, much to the boy’s annoyance. He laughed at how easy it was to get a rise out of Jihoon so early in the morning. _I’ve been controlling myself just fine for the past few years when I’m  in front of the most gorgeous person I know._

 

 

***

 

 

8PM.

 

“Are you sure you won’t be joining us?” Jihoon called from the doorway, and Daniel could feel his jaw wanting to drop to his desk. Jihoon was never the sharpest dresser (considering Daniel spent many years trying to remedy that with gifts of Dior suits and Rabanne belts) and Daniel was used to seeing Jihoon in badly matched office clothes or even lazy hoodies.

 

So when Jihoon stood in front of him with that angelic face (and that damned cherry gloss) and a black silk top with the neckline hanging dangerously low, his neck covered only by a strip of cloth that did nothing but frame those sharp collarbones, and all that tucked nicely into a pair of burgundy pants - Daniel wanted to overturn his desk and take Jihoon out to The Aubergine in his arms; because nobody in the history of law firms ever had a secretary that looked quite this good.

 

“Tempting offer, Jihoon, but I’ve got this _thing_ ,” Daniel whined as he gestured at the Eider files they had consolidated and the motions Jihoon typed up on his desk. “And I’m meeting the CEO in half an hour.”

 

“Haknyeon was dying to meet you,” Jihoon declared nonchalantly as he walked over. “You’re missing out.”

 

“I really would be missing out, won’t I?” Daniel looked up from the file he was typing on his desk, staring Jihoon straight in the eyes. The way he said it was slow, and sure, heavily laced with meaning. He looks Jihoon from head to toe and knew that a night out with Jihoon would be better than a night with the Eider case files that were lying very unsexily on his desk.

 

“I was counting on you to be our ticket in,” Jihoon teased as he sat on Daniel’s desk and leaned over, the neckline of the damned shirt falling criminally low at Daniel’s eye level, revealing the gold ring on a platinum chain hanging from his neck. “We’re just a bunch of kids after all.”

 

“I already have your names on the guest list,” Daniel responded, but felt his tongue dry. A hundred thoughts were rushing in his head: _It was late, nobody was at the office, he could flip Jihoon down on his desk and leave marks on those collarbones if he wanted to. If Jihoon wants them out on display at the Aubergine, he’d have the world see that Kang Daniel knew what they tasted like._

 

“You look breathtaking,” Daniel complimented, unable to stop his hand that had reached out to tuck Jihoon’s hair behind his ears. Jihoon was surprised for all of a split second before leaning into the touch, never breaking eye contact with Daniel.

 

“If I were as breathtaking as you say,” Jihoon replied, voice almost as low as a whisper, and Daniel watched those lips move before looking back up to meet Jihoon’s eyes, caught unaware by how close their faces were. “How come you’re still breathing?”

 

Jihoon had meant it as a joke, one of his snarky remarks to just about anything Daniel said - but the way he said it sounded like an invitation for Daniel to dive into those lips and find the oxygen he needed right there.

 

And Daniel wanted to say, “ _fuck everything, I’ll take it”_ to that invitation as he slowly leaned forward in his seat, until Jihoon’s face was just a breath away - except his phone rings right then and they both jolt back.

 

The two are taken back to their reality: there’s a case that Daniel really should be working on, Jihoon is the secretary who does deserve a break, and this business relationship works just fine without any of the thoughts running through their heads.

 

Jihoon gives out a small cough as his eyes trail to Daniel’s ringing phone - and his heart drops as he sees the redhead girl from yesterday calling at this late hour.

 

“You should - you should get that,” Jihoon says, standing up from Daniel’s desk.

 

“Should I?” Daniel asks, looking at Jihoon with a pleading expression that the younger couldn’t place. _Because I don’t want to answer it, I want you. Tell me I shouldn’t, and I won’t._

 

Jihoon thinks for a while as the phone rang in the silence between them, before answering, “Yeah, you should.”

 

He started to walk away and threw in a line just to make sure it’s clear that what happened between them should be forgotten and they should treat each other business as usual, “But don’t you dare leave this office without finishing off those files first, _boss_.”

 

Jihoon called him boss whenever they had to make it clear that he was just his secretary; and Daniel wanted him to take that back, wanted Jihoon to say “Daniel” instead. Because Jihoon wasn’t just a secretary, he was his best friend, he was his confidante, he was his world.

 

And if there was a slight chance of him losing all that, then he was not prepared to take any sort of risk.

 

Daniel forced a smile, an attempt to say that _yes, he understood what Jihoon meant; and no, they were not crossing that line. They won’t ever cross that line._

 

Daniel takes the call and Jihoon waves a silent goodbye before heading for the elevators.

 

 

***

 

 

The Aubergine was, for Jihoon, like most nightclubs - the loud beats that reverberated as you walked in, the overpriced alcohol, the dim lights, a bunch of kids tripping on their own feet because they got too tipsy too early, and a DJ spinning some new mixes that he did not really care about. The only difference was that The Aubergine hosted the most elite crowd in the city - scions of international corporations, heirs to old money, distinguished young professionals. There were private enclaves on the sides of the club, and high-profile persons in their expensive suits and their embellished dresses merrily talked.

 

“I’ve never felt so out of place,” Haknyeon laughed as he leaned over in one of the enclaves, “But somehow it still feels so good.”

 

“It’s because everything’s free,” Woojin grinned, raising a hand at Jihoon for a high five. “I love how your boss is a man of his word.”

 

Jihoon raised a hand to meet the high five.

 

“He apparently knew one of the owners,” Jihoon smiled as a waiter arrived with a bottle of champagne and some glasses.

 

“But, we didn’t order any?” Haknyeon whispered, unsure.

 

“Compliments from a client,” the waiter explained as he popped the bottle open and proceeded to pour. “For the gentleman with the auburn hair in the black top.”

 

Jihoon raised his eyebrows in surprise as his two friends hooted in laughter.

 

“I knew there was a reason I’m still your friend despite that attitude,” Woojin laughed as he picked up a glass and raised it. “You keep getting all this free shit when all you do is sit there and look cute.”

 

Jihoon couldn’t help the smile playing on his lips. _Daniel shouldn’t have._

 

“How’s the date you were talking about,” Jihoon shouted at Woojin over the loud bass as Haknyeon handed each friend a shot of tequila.

 

“You’ll love him,” Woojin grinned. “Tall, handsome, and the perfect prince. He’s just a notch below Park Woojin.”

 

“Park Woojin’s a helluva low standard,” Haknyeon laughed, earning him a playful shove from Woojin.

 

***

 

Jihoon sighed. Yes, he was tall, and handsome, and did look like a prince straight out of a storybook. At least Woojin wasn’t lying.

 

But the _date_ turned up already drunk at only 9PM, and Jihoon was busy nursing the babbling man and convincing him to drink more water than anything else. Woojin and Haknyeon watched awkwardly as Donghan started crying.

 

“I thought I was ready to meet new people,” Donghan slurred, leaning against Jihoon. “And you’re really, _really, really_ amazing.”

 

Jihoon swallowed and shot an angry look at Woojin. Woojin shrugged at him with a look that said, _I didn’t know he was fresh out of a breakup!_

 

“We can’t even be friends, you know?” Donghan wailed, tugging at Jihoon’s shirt for support. Jihoon patted the older man’s shoulder while using his face to communicate to Woojin and Haknyeon that no, this date wasn’t going fantastic at all.

 

“It’s okay, Donghan, everyone needs time to move o-” Jihoon started, trying to comfort the man as his two friends started to stand up and help Jihoon out.

 

“It’s just that, things don’t work out, and suddenly you’re strangers.” Donghan whispered. “And you’re back to square one, and the conversations you have with them go from _what will we name our kids_ to small talk, like _how’s the weather,_ and now we don’t even talk at all.”

 

Jihoon was taken aback.

 

“We should’ve just stayed friends - it’s better than this.” Donghan finished before burying his face in Jihoon’s neck to cry some more.

 

“Alright, alright, buddy, come on.” Woojin said, pulling Donghan off of Jihoon before any throwing up happened. “We’ll get you a cab, you deserve to call this a night.”

 

Haknyeon helped Woojin out, the wailing boy in the middle of the two as they tried to escort him out through a throng of people on the dance floor.

 

Jihoon wanted to come along to help, but he was floored by what Donghan was saying. And now he was left alone with his thoughts and with the third glass of champagne sent to their table, and he tried to steel his resolve.

 

Daniel was his greatest _what if_ \- and he knew that they were a beautiful match. He traced the golden ring resting against his throat. _Votum et fidei._

 

He had Daniel’s word and Daniel’s trust. And Daniel had his. They didn’t have to complicate anything. Especially not when they had their own complicated histories of falling in love but not being able to stay. Especially not when Daniel has had his fair share of heartbreak, and has built walls higher than the heavens trying to keep anyone from breaking it any further.

 

So maybe he should just give up hoping and move on, just like he told Donghan.

 

Jihoon’s thoughts are interrupted by a tall boy with jet black hair and a pair of round glasses resting on his nose, all dressed up in a red velvet suit that seemed like the latest Valentino collection, who took the seat beside him almost too casually, his hands holding up a glass of cola.

 

“I’m Lai Guanlin,” the tall man with the round glasses introduced himself. “CEO of an outerwear company based in Taiwan, just in town for some business discussions.”

 

Jihoon noticed that his speech was accented and each word was carefully pondered and enunciated.

 

“Okay?” Jihoon was taken aback by the sudden and slightly awkward introduction.

 

“Did you like the champagne from earlier?” The man asked as he sidled up near Jihoon.

 

“That was from _you_?” Jihoon replied, genuine surprise across his face.

 

Guanlin smirked. “Were you expecting it from someone else?”

 

Daniel’s face crossed his mind automatically and Jihoon had to wave it off. “No, not really.” He flashes Lai Guanlin his brightest smile as he leans closer, getting a whiff of the man’s perfume that smelled like a fresh rain.  

 

“Well, does he take care of you?” Guanlin smiled as he leaned into Jihoon’s ear. “Or could I easily fill his shoes?”

 

“Do you quote lyrics to your other targets as pickup lines?” Jihoon probed, pretty sure that handsome young CEO’s like the man in front of him are just in here for a good time. And maybe that’s all he needed right now.

 

Guanlin stared back, mild shock registering on his face.

 

“I just wanted to make a good first impression and my friends taught me some lines,” Guanlin replied, taking a gulp of soda before laughing. “But this is actually my first time in this kind of place and I’m hella nervous.”

 

Jihoon sat back and looked at the boy’s face. He prided himself in being able to read people clear as an open book - and Lai Guanlin didn’t look like he was lying. There was an earnest innocence in his expression that contrasted with the whole setup - and despite being a rich scion who was able to buy his place onto Jihoon’s side using a bottle of expensive champagne, Jihoon could tell Guanlin was inexperienced with this kind of scenario.

 

“My friends invited me here but they’re all a bit…” Guanlin’s eyes darted to the enclaves on the other side of the room, “...preoccupied at the moment. I’m doing what I can to survive.” Guanlin offers Jihoon an adorable grin as he continued to drink down his soda.

 

“By sending champagne bottles to my table?” Jihoon smirked, picking up a shot glass of what seemed to be vodka from a passing waiter and downing it in one go.

 

“By trying to start a nice conversation with the most beautiful man in the room,” Guanlin replied, looking straight at Jihoon. The boy may have been nowhere near as smooth as Daniel in situations like this, but what he lacked in the art of flirting - he more than made up for with frank honesty and those bright eyes behind round frames. “Which reminds me, I don’t even know his name yet.”

 

“Aren’t you a straight talker,” Jihoon giggled despite himself - or maybe it was the three glasses of champagne and the shots he’s been downing the whole night - finding this tall acquaintance uncharacteristically adorable. “Park Jihoon, pleased to meet you.”

 

***

 

The night passed even faster with Guanlin in their company - Woojin and Haknyeon took a liking to the unbelievably handsome but adorably awkward boy immediately, and even invited him to the dance floor after almost a half hour’s worth of conversation.

 

“I don’t dance, I’m sorry,” Guanlin had given them a shy smile, but the three tried to convince him otherwise. Haknyeon screeched when he heard a familiar bop being played, and dragged Woojin to the dance floor with him, leaving Jihoon with the responsibility to convince the young CEO to dance.

 

“Come on, just one song,” Jihoon cooed, standing up and tugging Guanlin to stand as well. “What will it take to get your ass down there?”

 

Guanlin thinks for a while, looking more like he was pondering a board decision than a dancefloor invitation.

 

“How about a kiss on the cheek?” Guanlin looks down at Jihoon almost bashfully, and Jihoon did not have it in him to reject the boy.

 

“Are you sure that’s all you want tonight?” Jihoon smirked as he leaned in close and put both hands on the taller man’s arms to steady himself. He was definitely a bit over tipsy at this point, and the buzz was just perfect.

 

“Anything more would be far too fast,” Guanlin smiled as he steadied Jihoon and ran a hand through his hair. “And I already told you, I don’t think good things come easy, and you’re as good as it gets.”

 

“But I could be as bad as you want me to be,” Jihoon leaned in, pressing a quick, innocent kiss on Guanlin’s cheek before stepping back.  

 

“Tell me that when you’re sober,” Guanlin was all appreciative smile and polite hands as he looked adoringly at Jihoon, who at this point was flushed red and smiling back. Jihoon hadn’t allowed himself this much interaction with anyone, not when Daniel was always at the forefront of his mind for the last 5 years.

 

He agreed to a date and came to a place like this to let off steam, maybe flirt with random people for fun, but he didn’t expect this. He didn’t expect the warmth and adorable politeness of Lai Guanlin in a place like this. But he wasn’t complaining - it felt good to know that you were wanted, and the way the young CEO looked at him made him think that he could imagine a future with him.

 

“Is that Lai Guanlin?” Jihoon could swear he was imagining things, but he’d recognize that voice even if his mind was swimming in six different types of alcohol that evening.

 

“Yes?” Guanlin looked to a man behind Jihoon, and he warily eyed as the man approached.

 

“Kang Daniel. I’m working with Eider.” Daniel threw out his right hand, and Guanlin promptly took it.

 

Jihoon felt Daniel’s other hand snake to his waist as Daniel pulled him closer.

 

“I see you’ve met my partner, Park Jihoon?”

 

“Partner?” Guanlin raised an eyebrow, staring at Jihoon for answers.

 

“I’m his secretary, we work together,” Jihoon tried to glare up at Daniel, tried to give him a look that said _what the hell are you doing here_ , but his vision couldn’t concentrate on Daniel’s stupidly handsome face, and he didn’t think he’d fit so snugly in Daniel’s embrace.

 

“And Daniel should be a few districts away, enjoying escargot and foie gras.” Jihoon hissed at Daniel, who was looking down at him with a grin.

 

“Well, I’m not,” Daniel shrugged, confusing Jihoon even more. “And Guanlin, I believe you should be heading over to the dancefloor after a kiss from my associate?”

 

Guanlin looked like he wanted to protest, but Daniel shot him a glance that told him to shut up and go away.

 

Guanlin bowed and proceeded to leave and walk over to where Haknyeon and Woojin were wildly dancing, and Daniel still had his hand on Jihoon’s waist. He plops down on the sofa, pulling Jihoon along with him.

 

“What the fuck, Daniel?” Jihoon pushed away, but Daniel’s hand kept him sitting close. Too close. “The meeting with Eider-”

 

“I rescheduled it.” Daniel said simply, reaching out to grab two shot glasses from a passing waiter and handing one to Jihoon. “We haven’t properly celebrated Innisfree just yet.”

 

“You can’t reschedule it! You only have 36 hours, and Boa specifically-” Jihoon started to panic, his mind having a hard time thinking with all the alcohol he’s had for the evening. Daniel interrupted him with a quick clink on the shot glass and a stern look in his eye. “Are we talking business right now, or are we going to take a celebratory shot?”

 

Jihoon narrowed his eyes but met Daniel’s toast, and they let the fire burn down their throats. Jihoon laughed despite himself when Daniel gagged. “What the hell did I pick up from that passing waiter, gasoline?”

 

“You couldn’t even pick something good for our celebratory toast?” Jihoon slurred, reaching out to grab a glass of soda from the table.

 

The two ended up laughing when Jihoon ended up taking a swig of vodka that he mistook for Sprite. “This is horrible, who leaves a full glass of vodka on the table as chaser?” Jihoon coughed as Daniel handed him a proper glass of soda.

 

“Your friend Woojin,” Daniel grinned, feeling Jihoon relax under his hold - their seats on the sofa intimately close despite the size of the seats that could have accommodated five grown men comfortably. Daniel’s eyes trailed to the neckline of Jihoon’s shirt, where the golden ring proudly rested.

 

“I gave you that,” Daniel mused, putting on a comical pout as his other hand reaching out to hold it between his fingers without touching Jihoon’s exposed skin. “But you never gave anything in return.”

 

“What do you give to a man who has the world?” Jihoon quoted, experimentally putting an arm around Daniel’s shoulder to steady himself. He was much bolder now, and the small voice telling him that he’d regret this in the morning was nowhere to stop him.

 

Daniel paused and looked straight at Jihoon, who was happier than he’s ever seen him, face still red but a genuine smile playing on his mouth and eyes. “How about a kiss?”

 

Jihoon paused before giggling. “What are you, Lai Guanlin the second?”

 

*

 

_Daniel grit his teeth. He had been watching Jihoon that evening, ever since he got the call from his friend Jaehwan, saying that his guest had arrived, where the fuck are you Daniel, wow this secretary you have is no joke, he already got champagne being offered up to him. Daniel had dropped the entire meeting with Eider then, completely on impulse._

 

_When he arrived, he was welcomed into the dim lights and the loud music by Jaehwan himself, and he sat quietly at an enclave with the perfect view of Jihoon’s evening. He had almost laughed when he saw the three young men having to deal with a crying drunk, and he was thankful that Jihoon hadn’t been set up with the guy at his best - because then he’d have trouble._

 

_When Daniel tried to take leave from Jaehwan and their friends to walk over to where Jihoon was, a man in glasses had waltzed over to Jihoon and Daniel had to sit back down. He was half-trusting Jihoon to chase away this suitor on his own, but the night went on and Jihoon looked like he was enjoying the company._

 

_“Hey Jaehwan,” Daniel tapped his friend’s shoulder. “Who’s that man?”_

 

_“Oh, him? Lai Guanlin. Just here on business, I think. Something about expanding the family business from Taiwan?” Jaehwan waved his hands in a vague gesture._

 

_“Lai Guanlin? As in from the Laiji Company?” Daniel raised both eyebrows._

 

_“The youngest son, and the newest CEO.”_

 

_And that was when Daniel spotted Haknyeon and Woojin leaving for the dance floor, drunken boys running faster than appropriate. With Jihoon left with this young CEO, Daniel sat on the edge of his seat. And when Jihoon leaned over too close to Guanlin, Daniel immediately sprang up._

 

_“Hey, where you going?” Jaehwan called as Daniel strode over to Jihoon’s side of the room._

 

_“Where I was supposed to be all evening,” Daniel muttered as he watched Jihoon kiss Guanlin on the cheek. No way was a punk all glammed up in Valentino taking his Jihoon home._

 

*

 

“Don’t compare me to Lai Guanlin,” Daniel hissed, and Jihoon completely missed the jealousy in Daniel’s voice.

 

“You both asked for kisses,” Jihoon laughed, leaning closer against Daniel. His eyes were starting to droop and he felt more like sleeping than anything else at this moment. Because falling asleep in Kang Daniel’s arms sounded like an absolutely _brilliant_ idea.

 

“Well, I wanted one first,” Daniel replied, ignoring how childish he was sounding right now. “And you give away kisses to total strangers, why can’t I have one too?”

 

Jihoon tutted. “So for our 50th celebration you just wanted a Lai Guanlin kiss?” he giggled, leaning closer. He pressed a quick kiss, chaste and inconsequential, on Daniel’s right cheek. He wiped off the balm that stuck onto Daniel’s cheek with his thumb. “And here I was trying so hard to think of which expensive watch to get you.”

 

Daniel suddenly shifted in his seat, arm pinned on the sofa beside Jihoon’s head as another hand reached out to trace along Jihoon’s jawline.

 

“I didn’t want a _Lai Guanlin_ kiss,” Daniel growled, and all of a sudden Jihoon was suddenly very aware of what was going on around him - a catchy tune being played by the DJ: a duo crooning _what is the matter, baby? Forget all the rules we’re breaking_ , bass in tune with his racing heartbeat, neon lights flashing from the dancefloor, the familiar scent of a perfume that reminded him of peaches and warm cotton, and Daniel, Daniel, Daniel all over him.

 

Jihoon hesitated for all of two seconds, deciding who would give first; if anyone would ever give, and if this was another one of those _almost but never enough_ moments. Jihoon was starting to get his bearings back, was about to reason that this was bad, this was _dangerous_ , they’ve avoided this for so long - but he _wants_ it, and all he needed was to see if Daniel wanted this too.

 

“Well,” Jihoon swallowed. “What did you want?”

 

“You.” Daniel breathed, voice low and husky and dripping with need, and suddenly Jihoon’s open lips were on his, arms wrapped around his neck as Daniel pulled Jihoon’s waist even closer to him. Daniel’s mind went blank and all he could taste on his tongue was alcohol and Park Jihoon, and nothing had ever tasted quite as exquisite.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...and that chapter had been twice as long as my usual update! I unfortunately won't have any access to my laptop until next week, so won't be able to update until Wednesday again! I hope you enjoy this slightly satisfying ending in the meantime ' u '
> 
> In case you're wondering - the chapter title and the song near the end of the fic is Bad 4 Us by Superfruit -- do give it a listen because that's probably the best theme song for Nielwink in this fic!  
> Note: It's not the last time we're seeing Guanlin in the fic, don't worry; and nope, this kiss isn't about to end in fluff in the next chapter. Guess who'll show up to break the fun? :>
> 
> Thank you so much everyone for all the comments in the previous chapter - I was surprised at how many people actually read this fic? I honestly thought it was a lame AU HAHA thank you for giving it a chance!
> 
> Also, in case you noticed - I dropped in Donghan since a couple people commented that he could be the date...so your comments actually become part of the story uwuuuu I meant it when all kudos and comments are appreciated! :D Until next time!


	6. Hold On, We're Going Home

Jihoon was convinced that he was dreaming, lips locked with Daniel, and his boss' shirt bunched up in his fists. The sensation was overwhelming, but Jihoon was determined to give as much as he took, alternating between too-desperate bites at Daniel's lower lip, to feathery light kisses, to tilting his head in an angle while pulling at Daniel’s blonde locks and diving in deeper to get drunk on how Daniel felt and _how Daniel tasted_ .   
  
Daniel pulled away briefly to catch his breath, only to find Jihoon hungrily chasing after his mouth, breath ghosting over Daniel's chin, and the older man couldn't help but to smirk at how desperately Jihoon tried to pull him back in.  Daniel hovered over the younger man for a few beats before kissing him in earnest, trying to hold back the overeagerness Jihoon had displayed by kissing him slowly, with none of the rough rushedness of the earlier kisses.   
  
The younger man pushed away at that - it was too much tender affection, too sincere, _too real_ , to just be passed off as a random makeout session at the club. His eyes were still glossed over, hardly focusing at Daniel who was grinning right at him. Jihoon's hair was tousled, face flushed and glowing, eyes twinkling with a hundred different colors as the strobe-lights lit them up to change from one ethereal image to the next. And his lips hung half-open, slightly swollen and shining at the havoc of kisses Daniel had wreaked on them. Jihoon may be too drunk to remember all this in detail, but Daniel knew he'd cherish this for a long time.   
  
"Daniel?" Jihoon asked tentatively, voice soft and without any of the usual sass.   
  
"Hm?" Daniel muttered, pulling Jihoon down flush against him on the velvet sofa and wiping the younger man's lip with his thumb.   
  
"Why don't we - why don't we join Woojin and Haknyeon on the dance floor?" Jihoon breathed, voice slurring and pitched higher - and Daniel knew he was dealing with Jihoon's cuter and hapless drunken alter ego.   
  
"No," Daniel smiled as he draped an arm around Jihoon and the boy nestled against the crook of his neck. "You're going to pass out before you even stand from this seat."   
  
"No, I'm not," Jihoon pouted, removing himself from Daniel's arms and making a feeble attempt to stand before falling back down and nearly knocking off the glasses on the table.   
  
"Yes, you fucking are," Daniel laughs as he guides Jihoon back into the seat beside him, half-tempted to just pull the boy onto his lap and carry him out of the place.   
  
"Well, do you have other ideas?" Jihoon frowned, more petulant than he was otherwise and Daniel found it endearing.   
  
"We could wait for Haknyeon and Woojin to stop flirting with the people on the dancefloor and then get in a circle and share our feelings," Daniel started, and he could feel Jihoon's unfocused gaze souring at the suggestion, "or-" he leans into Jihoon to whisper in his ear. "- I take you back home and we'll pick up on where we left off from the fileroom."   
  
At that, he heard Jihoon let out a breathy moan as the secretary buried his face in the crook of Daniel's neck. Daniel dug his nails on the thigh of his pants to keep whatever self-control he still had left when Jihoon had the audacity to start leaving tentative licks and small bites on his neck.

Daniel could swear he nearly pulled Jihoon onto his lap then and there, and he was almost pulling the younger man over - only to be interrupted by Haknyeon who ungraciously plopped beside Jihoon.   
  
"Kang Daniel," Haknyeon shouted over the din of the bass and the electro-pop that was blaring across the club. Daniel shut his eyes. He nearly forgot that Jihoon came into the club with Thing 1 and Thing 2. "Nice of you to join us!"   
  
Haknyeon was obviously drunk out of his mind, but unlike sleepy Jihoon who was still unabashedly nestled in the crook of Daniel's neck (although his titillating ministrations on his neck had ended at Haknyeon's arrival much to Daniel’s disappointment) and almost curling into his regular sleeping position, Haknyeon was determined to be embarrassingly awake for the duration of his alcohol high.   
  
"Jihoon insisted I come along," Daniel explained, tilting his head at the boy who was now sighing contentedly in his arms.   
  
"And I insist it's time to go," Woojin's rough drawl came from behind Daniel, and he felt the younger man pulling on Jihoon and pushing the sleeping brunette into Haknyeon, who was noisily protesting that he did not want to take care of sleeping beauty.   
  
"Mr. Kang, accompany me to the toilet?" Woojin asked, in a tone that was more of an order than a request. Daniel tried to protest, Jihoon's guard dog best friend was not going to ruin this evening when it had already been perfectly setup - but Woojin already had an arm around Daniel and was walking him towards the men's restroom.   
  
The restroom was immaculate - as expected of a club that catered only to the very elite - with some Tchaikovsky gently playing in the background as opposed to the loud music from outside.   
  
Woojin backed Daniel into a corner.   
  
"You can't take him home," Woojin deadpanned.   
  
"Why not, Park Woojin?" Daniel challenged, but he knew better than to start a fistfight with an intern who was obviously inebriated.   
  
"No, no, no, dont use that senior partner tone on me," Woojin replied, gesturing vaguely at Daniel. "You can't take him home because I won't let you."   


Daniel raised an eyebrow.

  
"And who made you your brother's keeper?" He was pretty sure there was no blood relation between the two Parks.   
  
"You'll take him home, he won't be able  to say no to you because he's drunk and because he's Park Jihoon and because you're Kang fucking Daniel then I’ll have to deal with the aftermath because I’m Park Woojin," the younger man was struggling to keep his line of thought on the level of _threatening gangster_ , but he was starting to sound more _uneducated juvenile delinquent_ .  "Bottom line is, he won't say no to whatever fucked up plan you have for him this evening on your _nasty stained sheets_ ," Woojin bit his tongue before he snarled, "and he doesn't deserve to be treated like all your _other_ dates."   
  
Daniel paused for a second. So Woojin had been observing him.   
  
"You don't know that," Daniel replied, trying to calm the intern down. "My sheets are immaculate."   
  
"I do know shit, I've seen you _do_ some real shady characters, and some really banging ones, and I've seen you do so many pretty women that I've lost count," Woojin fired back, clutching at Daniel's perfectly starched dress shirt to grab him by the lapels. "And you're not the one who has to come up with some dipshit funny story to distract Jihoon when his heart drops each time. You probably don't even know what those beautiful eyes look like when they’re trying to hide how sad he is."   
  
Daniel remained silent. It was true.   
  
"You don't see it because you're in bed with some stranger and not looking back to see how much you hurt him each time. That boy has nothing but adoration for you, Kang Daniel," Woojin continued, trailing off because it wasn't his place to interfere in grown men's affairs. So he settles for begging.

"Don't break his heart. Please."  
  
Daniel stared at Woojin - slightly inebriated and completely flushed red - and if Woojin harbored any hidden feelings for Jihoon, then he was a bigger man than Kang Daniel for putting his friend's happiness above his own.   
  
"I won't," Daniel promised, and he felt Woojin's grip on his shirt loosen. "Thank you, Woojin."   
  
"Tch," Woojin tutted as he put both hands in his pockets. He had done his duty and his job here was through. There's a dull ache at the bottom of his stomach because it actually felt like handing over Jihoon to Daniel. But he had promised himself when this all started that he had Jihoon's back a hundred percent, and maybe now he can safely move on.   
  
The two men walked back to Haknyeon who was attempting to shake Jihoon awake, and Jihoon looking like he'd beat up Haknyeon if the boy did manage to wake him up.

 

"If you break his heart, I'll have to take him out drinking to drown his sorrows,”Woojin sighed and turned to Daniel. “And  if you end up giving him the best night of his life, I'll have to hear all the details, and I bet my ass it's not going to be how immaculate your sheets are when you’re done with him.”

 

Woojin walked ahead of Daniel to assist Haknyeon. “And then _I’m the one_ who will be needing alcohol to drown _my own_ sorrows."   


  
***   


  
"And I told him, I told him the next time he _abducts_ me it needs to be in the Aston Martin," Jihoon slurs as Daniel unbuckled him from the passenger seat and he nearly falls down onto the  parking lot if Daniel hadn't caught him. “And I get the Lexus. The Lexus!”   
  
Daniel had been trying to keep the boy awake with conversation as he drove them home, but drunk Jihoon was intent on letting Daniel know that he was an asshole boss...but also that he was irresistible and had a nice butt. Daniel could barely hide his teeth forming into a bunny-like grin as he grunted to pull the boy on his feet - it seemed Jihoon was intent on being dead weight for the night.   
  
"I'll take you on the Aston tomorrow," Daniel humored his drunken colleague as he shut the door on the Lexus and made his way to the apartment's elevator, Jihoon slung against him.   
  
"That's what you said last Mon… Tuesda...Wednesday," Jihoon mumbled as he tripped on his own feet, nearly bringing Daniel down with him.   
  
At this rate, Daniel thinks, maybe he should've just dropped Jihoon on Woojin's lap. The boy may look small and delicate, but he also weighed a ton. But Daniel didn't quite want to pass up on the opportunity they began this evening.   
  
He kneeled down on the ground as Jihoon rocked side-to-side on his heels. "Come on, up my back," Daniel ordered, waiting for Jihoon to just plop on the width of his shoulders.   
  
"No,” came the indignant answer from Jihoon’s higher-pitched voice and Daniel wanted to laugh at how cute Jihoon was being.

 

“You’re going to tell everyone I'm a koala again," Jihoon narrowed his eyes but helplessly fell forward onto Daniel's back, prompting a loud grunt from the older man.  
  
"The cutest one," Daniel smiled as Jihoon's arms wrapped around his neck and he was able to carefully proceed to his apartment with Jihoon on his back.   
  
"I'm not a bear," the younger muttered, "I'm Jihoon."   


  
***   


  
Daniel was looking forward to a long night after all the bluster Jihoon spoke in their everyday conversations, and after that hot make out at the club - so he wasn't counting on the younger falling asleep the moment he laid him down on the bed.   
  
Daniel bit the inside of his cheek. He didn’t think he was not going to get his satisfaction tonight - not when Jihoon looked positively sinful lying down on his bed with clothes askew and face peaceful despite the rapid heartbeat making his chest heave up and down.   


Daniel scratched at the back of his neck before resigning to taking off his coat and rolling up his sleeves. As tempting as Jihoon looked right now, he was not in the business of imposing himself on anyone who could not consent. Especially Jihoon - because if there was ever going to be a first time between the two of them, he wanted Jihoon to want it as much as he did right now, and not just because tequila and champagne pushed him to.

 

When Daniel leaned in to check if he was okay, he felt Jihoon pulling at his shirt, quietly whispering " _take it off_ ", but Daniel tutted as the boy helplessly dropped his arms after a few unsuccessful tugs at the buttons.   
  
"Maybe next time," Daniel planted a kiss on Jihoon's forehead and he was surprised to see the boy with his eyes wide open - but with pupils unfocused, as if staring past Daniel’s face.

 

“This is a good dream,” Jihoon whispered, so soft Daniel almost missed it. Jihoon’s hands were now stroking at his hair, not quite the heated pulls from earlier but a gentle caress that sent shivers down Daniel’s spine. The younger boy’s eyes fluttered closed as his hands dropped limp to his sides. “I don’t want to wake up and be just your secretary again.”    


“You were never _just_ a secretary to me,” Daniel responded as he watched Jihoon sleeping once again before he stood up and turned off the lights.   


 

***

 

  
Jihoon was jolted awake, his mouth dry and his head throbbing - but there were more important things to be done. He had no idea what had happened the night before but he was pretty sure this was Daniel's room - and as much as he’d love playing the part of flustered teenager and making up scenarios in his head that were completely inappropriate - it was only a few more hours until the Eider board meeting and he needed to prepare the motions and proofread the-   
  
"OW!" Jihoon stumbled on something very large and very Daniel as he tried to rush out of the room.   
  
"What the fu-" Jihoon stared at Daniel who was nursing the rib that Jihoon had stepped on. "What are you still doing here?!"   
  
"You're welcome?" Daniel croaked. He had slept on the carpet beside Jihoon's bed, prepared glasses of water to help with the eventual hangover, and this was the thanks he gets. "Someone had to take your drunken self home."   
  
"This isn't my home," Jihoon replied, wincing at how that line came out. Of course it wasn't his home - he was just Daniel's secretary.

 

_Or...was he?_

 

Sudden recollections of the night before flashed in his mind and Jihoon had to cover his mouth with both hands.   
  
"Did I...?" Jihoon squeaked, suddenly slumping to the floor beside Daniel and his mess of pillows and blankets.   
  
"Uh-huh." Daniel grinned, enjoying Jihoon's reaction.   
  
"Did you...?"   
  
"Yep."   
  
Daniel could almost hear the gears in Jihoon's mind clicking together as the boy's eyes widened further in surprise.   
  
“Oh my g-” Jihoon buried his hands in his hair and his head between his knees. "Fuck!"   
  
"You bet," Daniel gave an exaggerated moan and bit his lip, and Jihoon flared red.   
  
Daniel was convinced that he broke Park Jihoon because the boy just froze there, making unintelligible sounds that sounded like anguish and heavy breathing.   
  
"You do know I was just kidding...?" Daniel reached over, just a tinge worried. _Maybe he misread the signs?_ “I didn’t do anything illegal or without consent.”   
  
Jihoon figured he could piece this together later - but there were more important things to deal with right now. Just like Daniel, he had a knack for putting business ahead of personal concerns - even if said personal concern was the slight possibility that he scored a night with Daniel and couldn’t remember half of it.

 

“Daniel,” he said sternly when he felt like his blush had toned down to a minimum (it didn’t), and he stared right into Daniel’s eyes. “Eider.”

 

Daniel’s eyes blew wide.

 

“Shit.”

 

***  
  
“Floor it!” Jihoon barked as he tried pulling his own tie properly.

 

“I am, I AM!” Daniel roared as he steered the Lexus past a yellow light.

 

So much for the lovely domestic morning he was anticipating. He had it all planned out - Jihoon draped in one of his own dress shirts _and only_ the dress shirt, with a plate of toast and a glass of orange juice and the two of them pillowtalk-ing until noon in his bed. The perfect honeymoon-stage morning-after.

 

But as luck would have it, they both took very quick turns in the shower, jumped into whichever outfit was available (Daniel managed to find a nice Armani that fit Jihoon’s shoulders snugly but was a size too long on his frame), ran down to the parking lot (he wasn’t even able to get the doorman to take the cover off the Aston Martin), and Jihoon was reading him lines from Eider’s motion as he drove like a madman down crowded streets.

 

It was more like a frazzled-parent-rushing-their-kid-to-school kind of morning.

 

There was no time to process the night before, no way for Daniel to insert his trademark sweet-talk, so Daniel contented himself with the aftertaste of Jihoon on his tongue. _For now_.

 

“You missed the Eider dinner so we need a backup plan to get back into Eider CEO’s good graces,” Jihoon recited as they took the elevator up to the firm’s office floor, Daniel standing behind him a bit too closely for two people who had the elevator all to themselves. “I have all the documents proofread, but I’d need the motion you worked on last ni- what are you _doing?”_ Jihoon flinched as Daniel nipped at his earlobe.

 

“Flirting with you so you can loosen up a bit?” Daniel offered slyly, trailing a hand up Jihoon’s hip and inside his blazer to hook a finger on the waist of his pants.  

 

Jihoon was knocked speechless once again, because _damn it, he was trying to keep work and...whatever this was as two separate things._ But he’d be lying if he didn’t admit to himself that Daniel’s hands hooked on his pants was really doing something to him right now, and a faint smile threatened to form on his lips.

 

_Maybe dreams do come true._

 

The elevator dinged at another floor, one below the law firm, and Jihoon barely had time to untangle himself from Daniel. He was prepared to apologize for misconduct; however, if the man who walked in was shocked, it didn’t register well - but Daniel and Jihoon definitely froze.

 

It was a face the both of them hadn’t seen for the past 3 years.

 

_Ong Seongwoo._

 

“Kang Daniel,” Seongwoo greeted with a smirk that betrayed any sign of surprise as he entered the elevator space, and Daniel hurriedly removed his hands from Jihoon like he was burnt. “I knew you slept around when we broke up, but I didn’t know you screwed your secretary now, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUNNNN a new challenger has entered the ring
> 
> Thank you so much everyone for the nice comments so far and the fic recs??? I am glad you're enjoying reading it as much as I enjoy writing this fic heh we finally get to the main conflict portion of this story! 
> 
> Was supposed to write when I got back and upload tomorrow but I was able to finish this on the trip back to Manila :3  
> Typed almost entirely on my phone so please excuse any mistakes ;;;;
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are very much appreciated (and help me push out updates much faster hihi)  
> Also uwaaaa so many great fics are updating I need to...catch up


	7. What Did Summer Ever Mean To You

 

“Ong Seongwoo,” Jihoon greeted as he bowed low and made space between him and Daniel. He stood protectively in front of his boss, afraid of what may happen next.

 

Jihoon knew he should not and was not supposed to feel guilty, but caught in between Kang Daniel and Ong Seongwoo, he was nearly suffocated with the tension that hung in the air in the few seconds it took to reach the firm’s floor. Daniel had barely uttered a word, but Jihoon knew that whatever thoughts were bouncing around his head was a sure cacophony.

 

Daniel looked like he had seen a ghost, pale skin made even paler as the color drained from his cheeks, and Jihoon could see his fists clutching tightly at nothing in particular.

 

Jihoon is taken back to three years ago - Daniel aimlessly staring at the wall the night Seongwoo broke it off. He had never seen Daniel so empty, so unsure of what was going to happen next, so _broken_ that it made Jihoon’s heart ache. Jihoon had insisted that Daniel take the day off then - but Daniel shook his head, swallowed, and looked up at Jihoon with the saddest eyes. “I’m fine.”

 

And Kang Daniel was the farthest thing from _fine_ right then _._

 

Because the next moment, he was silently sobbing against Jihoon’s chest, staining the boy’s white shirt with droplets of tears that he never thought would come. ( _“Why am I always the one left behind,” Daniel had whispered hoarsely, and Jihoon did not have an answer for that except to promise Daniel that he’d stay._ )

 

Jihoon knew the whole story - his heart would not let him forget how much it stung to see Daniel and Seongwoo together. How the two had started off as highschool sweethearts all the way into law school and even when they were already rising stars in their respective firms - how they both dominated the moot courts and the mock trials.

 

They were the perfect couple, with Seongwoo graduating top of their class and Daniel graduating fifth ( _“he did nothing but dick around the whole time,” Seongwoo had laughed then during a company party during Jihoon’s first year as Daniel’s secretary, and Jihoon sadly smiled at how well the two of them fit together over glasses of rosé, how Daniel stared lovingly at Seongwoo under the stars as Jihoon watched from the sidelines_ ).

 

It wasn’t their first time breaking up that fourth of July three years ago. Jihoon had heard them shouting at each other inside Daniel’s apartment when he dropped by to deliver case files one evening. He didn’t mean to eavesdrop then; but in the end, Daniel told Jihoon everything after Seongwoo stormed off: and _everything_ was a mess.

 

They had their young honeymoon phase in highschool, when everything was sweet, all the world was tinted rose, and Daniel had been so sure that he’d grow old with Ong Seongwoo. There were already kids’ names in the plans, a nice resthouse out in the mountains, a European vacation every summer, a couple of cats, warm chocolate on cold winter nights. ( _“Run away with me,” Seongwoo had asked him, and Daniel’s reply had been a smile and an eager, “Whenever you’re ready.”_ )  

 

Somewhere along the way, college happened and the two drifted away from each other - the promises didn’t sound as sweet, the plans didn’t match as well, and the kisses didn’t come as often - and it was Daniel’s first heartbreak.

 

But it was okay - because people sometimes grew up together but grow apart over time.

 

When they met again in the second year of law school, Daniel was determined to reignite the spark - to bring back the memories of long summer nights just gazing at stars, and the possibility of a forever with Seongwoo was once again back on the table. ( _“Run away with me,” Daniel had asked then, with a cautious smile and a soft caress on Seongwoo’s knuckles. Seongwoo had only smiled back._ ) And so they found one another in each other’s arms in the summer of their third year of law school; until Daniel found out that Seongwoo already had a girlfriend from college while they were carrying on.

 

Needless to say, breakup #2 was a messier affair and had scarred Daniel deeply.

 

Because who wanted to be a third party in a relationship when you grew up with a broken family? When Daniel’s own cheating father couldn’t even be in the same room as his mother because he loved his mistress more, and little Daniel, alone in his room, had to figure out if everything was his fault.

 

That’s when the frequent nights with random strangers started, because Daniel could not afford to let anyone in close enough to hurt him again, and the numbing sensation of someone, _anyone,_ calling out his name on the bed in the middle of the night like he was truly _wanted_ was an exhilarating high. It was almost enough to burn off the memory of Ong Seongwoo, and the memory of his father and his father’s mistress, and the memory of not being wanted by his own family.

 

And that was already how Daniel was when Jihoon started as a secretary, and Jihoon couldn’t have found a man more beautiful or more broken than Kang Daniel. But Daniel was more than just his torn edges and his reluctance to open up, and Jihoon slowly found himself being a friend, being a confidante, being _there_ \- actually _caring_ for the man who dominated the courts at the district attorney’s office and won every single case thrown at him.

 

So when Ong Seongwoo waltzed back into Daniel’s life four years ago in this very office, Jihoon had front row seats to a new round of reopening old scars; because Seongwoo asked Daniel to run away again, and marry him this time, and despite everything they’ve been through - Daniel _still said yes._

 

Only this time, the trust was nowhere to be found - and their sweet gazes over glasses of rosé came in equal measure with the never-ending fights. And everytime they “cooled off” or “broke up”, Daniel would ask Jihoon to book this or that girl, or _whoever you have,_ into his after-work agenda.

 

Jihoon wanted to stop him then, wanted to wave around his arms and say, “ _It’s me, pick me, I’m just here_.”

 

_I can be your fallback._

 

But Daniel needed Jihoon to be _constant_ , to be a shoulder to depend on, a leg to stand on, a _friend._ Someone to pat his back to hide his muffled crying that fourth of July that Ong Seongwoo walked out of his life, and Kang Daniel was huddled into a small ball, a shadow of the man that closed cases with a flick of a wrist, hiding in Jihoon’s arms as the younger boy held him in silence - tear-stained shirt and all.

 

( _“You can’t run away with me if you can’t trust me, Seongwoo had shouted, and Daniel responded with a cold, icy glare and a voice dripping with vitriol, “Maybe you were never worth running away with.”_

 

 _And Seongwoo did run, but this time, it was to go far away from Daniel._ )

 

Jihoon had spent many days attempting to bring back the sun in Kang Daniel’s life after that.

 

And Daniel had built his walls up ever higher, afraid of being hurt and hurting anyone else.

 

And today, on the elevator, for the first time in five years, Jihoon was finally starting to have a chance with Daniel; and Daniel was already opening himself up to a real relationship with someone after Ong Seongwoo. But memories of summers and roses and running away with the one you love and hurting them even if you didn’t mean to washed over Daniel, and Jihoon winced. Any shot he thought he had with Daniel a few minutes before now tipped on a delicate balance - because heaven knows how shaken Kang Daniel was when Ong Seongwoo broke off their engagement three years prior.

 

And to this day, Kang Daniel still used the same perfume as Ong Seongwoo.

 

“See you both,” Seongwoo steps out of the elevator, humming a slow ballad.

 

***

 

Jihoon and Daniel walked towards Daniel’s office in silence - a strong contrast versus the events of the evening and the morning drive to work - only to find Boa already standing there.

 

Jihoon panicked a little, reminded of the Eider deadline. “I’ll go through the files and come up with a Plan B,” Jihoon promised, trying to make light of their current situation; and Daniel nodded stiffly.

 

"I told you this was your shot at name partner and you didn't even give our most important client the time of day. If Eider pulls out, the rest of our major clients follow suit." Boa explained icily as Daniel sat back on the sofa in his office. "I don't like it when people say I'm playing favorites, Daniel, and you're making it immensely hard for me to defend the opportunities I give you."  
  
"Miss Boa, it was my fault-" Jihoon attempted to remedy the situation, especially since Daniel had only started to calm down from the morning’s elevator scenario. They still had no idea why Ong Seongwoo was back in town and worse, what he was doing at this particular office.  
  
"Jihoon, if I wanted to talk to a secretary, I'd address you." Boa snapped, obviously very upset.  
  
Jihoon pursed his lips and felt a weight drop on his stomach. It was the third time in the span of a few days that he was excluded because he was _just the secretary_ \- and he couldn't stand up for himself because it was true. He had no business getting in the middle of a crisis between two senior partners, especially when one of them looked to be on the verge of losing his job.

 

Being _just the secretary_ seemed to be Jihoon’s fate, be it with his career or with Daniel. _  
_  
"You snub Eider, and a few minutes later you are seen at the Aubergine?" Boa continued as Jihoon took his seat just outside the glass doors. Jihoon could still clearly hear the discussion inside the room. "What kind of message are you sending, Daniel?"  
  
"I was out of line," Daniel argued, and his eyes flicked to where Jihoon was sitting outside. Jihoon belonged here beside him - not excluded from a conversation this important. "There was an emergency-"  
  
"AT A CLUB?" Daniel looked down as Boa raised her voice. "I don't give a damn what kind of bullshit excuses you give to land yourself your cheap little dates, but that won't work when clients start pulling out."  
  
"It wasn't a cheap date, it was-" Daniel started, voice laced with anger as he attempted to defend Jihoon who was still within earshot of the conversation outside the glass door of his office. Jihoon was the farthest thing from a cheap date - he’s precious, he’s the best thing in Daniel’s life-  
  
Boa bulldozed all over Daniel's statement. "And don't you dare cry bloody murder when I pair you up with Ong Seongwoo because he's this case's hail mary-"  
  
" _Who?_ " Daniel whipped his head towards Boa in disbelief.  
  
"You'd know this if you made an effort to even show up at board meetings," Boa's tone softened by just a bit, not intending to drop the Ong Seongwoo bomb in this manner. "We've headhunted Ong Seongwoo from Fantagio Law, and I told you that I’d bring in a senior partner to work with you once your 36 hours were up."  
  
"Why him," Daniel hissed through gritted teeth. He didn’t know which emotion he should feel at this point - sadness? Regret? Anger? “I can team up with Jisung, Minhyun, you...we do not have a shortage of senior partners.”    
  
"He was previously Eider's legal counsel before transferring to Fantagio, and he became their youngest senior partner in a span of a few years." Boa commented. This was not lost on Daniel - he nearly married the man a few years before, he knew all about Seongwoo’s career moves. "Not to mention that he showed up to that Eider dinner, which makes him the better partner out of the two of you. And he's barely a day in this firm."  
  
"Then take me off the case," Daniel forced out, the words leaving a bad taste in his mouth because who knows when he'll have another shot at name partner in the near future.  
  
"Eider demands you still work on the case, and I can't have you jeopardizing our company's future over some old spat you had with Seongwoo." Boa stated like it was a judge’s verdict, and Daniel knew then that this was not an argument he could win.

 

“Boa,” Daniel started, tone resigned and tired. _Did he have to beg?_ “You know about me and Seongwoo.”

 

“I know everything,” Boa’s voice turned sympathetic - here was Boa as a friend and not the firm’s managing partner - as she placed a hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “I also know that you need to put this behind you or you’re never going to move on.”  
  
***  
  


Jihoon was hunched over his laptop, pretending to work when Boa steps outside of Daniel’s office.

 

“Make sure you help him out,” Boa tells him, voice low as she left a quick tap of her lacquered nails on Jihoon’s desk, and Jihoon gives a quick nod. “He likes playing high risk high reward, and this case either gets his name on the wall or his ass fired.” But something in her voice told Jihoon that Daniel needed help in more than just the Eider case.

 

Jihoon swallows. If Kang Daniel ever had the ability to put work ahead of personal emotion, now was the time to put it on full blast.

 

“And Jihoon,” Boa whispered as she leaned in closer. Jihoon looked up and hoped that his eyes expressed no emotion that will give him away. Boa tries to say something, but stops herself. “Just...remember that the higher you hope, the harder you’ll fall.”

 

Jihoon offers a weak smile, fully knowing that Boa was telling him to be careful, to guard his heart, because the possibility of Daniel running away with Ong Seongwoo again was very real.

 

Jihoon’s chest felt like it was folding into itself, squeezing at his heart and lungs. He should know his place, a place with Daniel who shines as brilliant as the sun - but if he flies any higher, this sun will burn off his wings.

 

But Jihoon had already crashed and burned a long time ago. And he had to decide if he wanted to fly back up, or if it was time to pick up his broken pieces and move on.

 

Boa walks away after an encouraging glance at Jihoon.

 

“Jihoonie,” Ong Seongwoo called, the airy singsong quality in his voice either natural or affected to make it seem like walking back into Daniel’s life was an everyday affair. “Eider meeting is within a few hours. Is he ready?”

 

Jihoon glanced back at Daniel who was watching the skyline inside the glass walls of his office.

 

“I don’t think he’ll ever be ready,” Jihoon replied, more than one meaning to his statement. He looked up at Seongwoo with pleading eyes that said _please don’t hurt him_ , but his mouth softly uttered with a professional smile, “But Eider waits for no one.”

 

Seongwoo looked at Jihoon gently.

 

“I’m not here to cause a scene,” Seongwoo promised as he gave Jihoon’s wrist a reassuring pat before walking into Daniel’s office.

 

Jihoon did not want to look back to see how Daniel would greet Seongwoo - but he did anyway. It seemed to happen all in slow motion, with Seongwoo arriving in with his usual swagger that reminded him of a carefree summer; a slight hesitation from Daniel to turn around from looking outside the window; and when Daniel finally turns around, Jihoon was hoping that there wouldn’t be any emotion in Daniel’s eyes.

 

But Daniel turns to Seongwoo with an expression that looks a lot like _love_ hidden behind sad, sad eyes, and Jihoon’s heart sinks. _His sun burned him too much._

 

Just then, the light of his phone flickered alive, and Jihoon sees a message from an unknown number.

 

He taps it open and reads.

 

_Hope you are free tonight? Got your number from Haknyeon._

_-LGL_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a longer update but it's so much angst that I had to cut it short! It's a bit different since there's so much flashback to cover, I hope it was ok! I also hope this gives some sort of background on Daniel for this story~
> 
> Chapter title comes from "Fourth of July" by Fall Out Boy! The entire Ongniel backstory was based on a single song HAHA! Give it a listen, it's one of my all-time favorites :)
> 
> Up next: The return of Lai Guanlin, Woojin will be so mad, It's 3AM who does Daniel love
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are very much appreciated!!! Your comments give a lot of ideas on where I can improve the story and I'm really thankful to you readers! See you on the next (EVEN ANGSTIER) update! Just a little more until we hit that fluff ending :>


	8. I Would Do Anything For You

“So you’re telling me that we can’t make the acquisition happen?” Eider’s CEO tapped her fingers impatiently on the table at the boardroom, Seongwoo and Daniel across her. Jihoon was quietly taking minutes on the side, carefully running through the list of options they were to present to Eider.

 

But none of these proposed companies met the requirements for a profitable acquisition.

 

“We can, we just need more time,” Seongwoo replied, careful with his words. “And preferably a different partner because the current one is neck-deep in legal cases and will only sandbag you in the long run.”

 

“I do not have the time, nor the resources to find _another partner_!” Eider’s CEO stood up. “I’m losing my capital investment on this acquisition the longer we drag it out!”

 

“We’ll handle it,” Daniel reassured, voice soothing as he tried to calm down the woman across him. Her head snapped to Daniel and she narrowed her eyes.

 

“That’s rich coming from someone who missed a meeting to pick up some young tart at a club,” she scoffed, and Daniel bit the inside of his cheek so hard trying not to snap back at that. “As if you could find my next acquisition in a place like that.”

 

Jihoon looked up from what he was typing. In meetings like this, he would usually pipe up and speak his mind - he may have just found a winning strategy for Daniel.

 

“I thi-” he started, before getting cut short by Seongwoo.

 

“We’ll have a shortlist ready by tomorrow,” Seongwoo flashed the woman his reassuring smile. “For my time working as Eider’s legal counsel, I’d be able to get you the best fit for the company.”

 

The woman tossed her head back. “Brave words, Ong Seongwoo. Your bite better be more than your bark.”

 

Jihoon bit his lip. After all, Ong Seongwoo was the partner on the case, and he was just the secretary.

He glanced over at Daniel, whose usually warm eyes were focused sharply on the business at hand, obviously annoyed at how the Eider CEO undermined his abilities as a closer.

 

 _It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission,_ Jihoon picks up his phone and rapidly types a reply to Lai Guanlin.

 

***

 

“I did not think you would accept on such short notice,” Lai Guanlin pulls out a chair for Jihoon to sit. Jihoon found his manner of speaking endearing - all clumsy accent and formal choice of words.

 

They were in one of those upscale restaurants in the posh side of town, and Jihoon felt severely underdressed in just Daniel’s ill-fitting old Armani suit while Guanlin sat across from him decked out in a tailored deep red suit that contrasted with his pale skin and jet black hair.

 

“I didn’t think I’d get an invite this quick,” Jihoon replied as he fixed the table napkin on his lap.

 

He smiled sweetly at Guanlin, and he knew the boy was smitten by the way his pale cheeks colored with just that.

 

“What made you say yes?” Guanlin returned the smile as he gestured at a waiter to bring in the first dish of the evening.

 

“Reasons,” Jihoon answered, _like trying to forget what’s going on back there,_ his mind flashing back to Daniel and Seongwoo who were in the office, hard at work trying to shortlist the available partners to propose to Eider.

 

Guanlin nodded, as if understanding. “You were gone too early from last night,” he takes a sip of water and grinned. “Did Kang Daniel drag you into another case again?”

 

Jihoon looks at the boy in mild surprise, to which Guanlin quickly followed up with a worried, “Woojin told me. I am not a stalker.”

 

Jihoon laughed at how easy it was to fluster the young CEO.

 

“It’s fine, Guanlin.” It was Jihoon’s turn to take a sip of water. “Yes, he sort-of dragged me into another case.” Jihoon tries to forget the foggy memory he had of Daniel’s lips on his own and Daniel’s arms on his waist, but all it does is bring a blush up to his cheeks.

 

“He shouldn’t be treating you that badly,” Guanlin tutted, sitting back as the waiters arrived with an assortment of canapes and other hors d’oeuvres.

 

“I don’t mind,” came Jihoon’s automatic reply, something he was accustomed to saying about Daniel. He shakes his head and leans forward on the table, elbows on either side of his porcelain plate. “But enough about _my boss_ , tell me more about yourself.”

 

Guanlin’s eyes brighten animatedly as he began talking about the Laiji business, how he was in town looking for a possible partnership (he glances meaningfully at Jihoon at the mention of partnership), and how he’s heading back to Taiwan in a week to reconvene with the board. Jihoon listened closely as he picked at his dinner - the young man was passionate about what he was doing, and he was sure Lai Guanlin would make quite the CEO.

 

 _Bingo_. Jihoon smiled.The best company to set a partnership with Eider.

 

“I didn’t ask for Laiji’s three-year plan,” Jihoon teased as Guanlin finished talking about possible business ventures and meetings he had been in for the past few days. _The perfect seduction involved something personal after all._ Jihoon leaned in and subtly brushed a hand against Guanlin’s own. “I wanted to learn more about _you_.”

 

Guanlin’s bright eyes registered surprise as he reached down to pat his lips with a napkin, almost electrified by the almost touch from Jihoon.

 

“Well,” Guanlin started. “The entire family business had been my life, so there’s not much to talk about.”

 

Jihoon smiled appreciatively at Guanlin’s openness. It was a strong contrast against how much Daniel tried to keep to himself - and Jihoon internally slapped himself for bringing back the train of thought to Daniel.

 

“But just right now I think life should be more than just business,” Guanlin continued, fingers nervously fidgeting with the table napkin. “And I’d like my life to be a bit about Park Jihoon sometimes.”

 

Jihoon blinked. Guanlin delivered the line awkwardly but the raw honesty was definitely there. He giggled. “Are you asking me out on a second date already, Lai Guanlin?”

 

“And a third and a fourth and a fifth,” Guanlin grinned sheepishly.

 

Jihoon was so used to pining after Daniel and dancing around this topic that Lai Guanlin’s straightforwardness at his feet was something he was not used to. Jihoon’s cheeks colored a bit as he joked back, “Let’s see if you make it through this one first.”

 

The dinner proceeded wonderfully, and Jihoon somehow managed to drop some early hints of a partnership with Eider, which Guanlin was very receptive to.

 

“A partnership with you?” Guanlin repeated after Jihoon gave an overview of the possible terms. “So I will be your client?”

 

“You will be _Daniel’s_ client,” Jihoon responded as they went through dessert. Some sort of strawberry mousse with a chocolate ganache. “I’m just his secretary.”

 

“Is he good?” Guanlin asked tentatively. He had not missed what happened that evening at the Aubergine.

 

“The best,” Jihoon perked up as his chest swelled with pride. “He hasn’t lost a case, and he’s the best closer in town. Not to mention the fact that he’s bright and funny - a bit dense sometimes, but overall he’s the best pick if you’re after a capable lawyer.”

 

Guanlin pauses and looks at Jihoon, who was smiling brighter than he had been all evening - like all pretenses disappeared when Jihoon started talking about Daniel, no clever quips or hidden motives, and he just looked like a boy in love.

 

“Do you,” Guanlin started, but had to swallow before he said it completely. “Do you like him?”

Jihoon was taken by surprise and he looked at Guanlin blankly for a few beats.

 

It seemed Guanlin’s frankness was a double-edged sword. He prepared to deny Guanlin’s statement, pretending to need a glass of water first before laughing loudly and spouting things like _yuck, we just work together!_

 

But the fact that Jihoon paused before answering confirmed it all.

 

Guanlin lets him deny it as they toasted to a wonderful first date.  

 

***

 

Daniel sighs.

 

He had spent a good portion of the previous day meeting up with potential partners and contacting possible leads, and with Ong Seongwoo of all people. Not to mention that the huge elephant in the room was never addressed as he tried to be nothing but civil in front of the man he thought he would spend the rest of his life with.

 

Their conversations were as dull as commenting on the weather, it was almost a blessing that they had so much work to do.

 

He wanted to work on this case with Park Jihoon instead. He barely got past the first step of capturing Park Jihoon’s heart when Ong Seongwoo entered the elevator the day before.

 

Daniel was shaken, sure - but he was more worried when Jihoon froze under his touch and acted distant the rest of the day, even asking for the evening off to tend to personal affairs. Daniel wanted to keep him in the office then, because heaven knows he’d rather have Jihoon snarking him all evening than trying to keep small talk with Ong Seongwoo.

 

Daniel ran his fingers through the petals of a small hydrangea bouquet he had bought this morning before heading to the office - because he’s out to make sure Jihoon knows that Ong Seongwoo meant nothing to him right now.

 

“It symbolizes heartfelt emotions, or gratitude for being understood,” the florist had told him as she wrapped the pink flowers in a pretty little bouquet.

 

“That sounds perfect,” Daniel had smiled graciously as he picked it up and studied the flowers in full bloom - it would go well with Park Jihoon.

 

***

 

Daniel turned the corner, a big smile on his face as he spots the familiar auburn head sitting down at the cubicle outside his office, with Woojin leaning in and talking animatedly - he looked like he was teasing Jihoon about something.

 

Daniel’s eager walk slows down as he spots huge sunflower wreaths decorating Jihoon’s cubicle, and the boy smiling like a lovestruck teenager.

 

“I think they’re a bit extravagant,” he hears Woojin as he slowly approached. “But I guess that’s what you get when you date young, foreign CEO’s.”

 

Daniel’s heart drops.

 

“I swear if I see another flower I’m going to get an allergy,” Jihoon responds as he turns his head and spots Daniel, and what registers on his face was a mixture of embarrassment and guilt hidden behind a shy smile. “Daniel!”

 

Daniel abruptly hides the small bouquet he had in his hands behind his back. He tried to remain casual as he approached with a small smile on his lips. “What’s all this?”

 

“The Park Jihoon fanclub planted too many sunflowers this year,” Jihoon replied, trying to mask his embarrassment.  

 

“Park Jihoon fanclub, population one,” Woojin quipped before shooting Daniel a glare and walking away. “Origin: Taiwan.”

 

“You were on a date with Lai Guanlin?” Daniel asked when Woojin had left, hand grasping tightly at the hydrangeas in his hands.

 

“Yes, but that’s a minor detail,” Jihoon answered as he ushered Daniel into his glass office, and that’s when he noticed the tiny bouquet in Daniel’s hands. It wasn’t even on the same level as the designer wreaths that Lai Guanlin sent. Jihoon looks up with wide eyes at Daniel. “Oh, you have flowers too?”

 

“Yeah,” Daniel responded lamely. “They’re for someone.”  

 

Jihoon bites his lip. _Was Round 4 of the Daniel - Seongwoo love story already starting?_

 

“I take it that you already have a candidate for the new Eider partner?” Jihoon asks to stir the conversation back to the topic he had in mind as Daniel took his seat behind the wooden desk.

 

“We’re meeting the last one this morning,” Daniel replied as he sank back on the chair. The sight of sunflowers outside his office was too bright and annoying now, considering how much his mood had deflated in the span of a few minutes. “But so far we don’t have any that could match the original agreement.”

 

Jihoon produces a stack of documents that he had been working on since he got home from the date with Guanlin and drops it in front of Daniel.

 

“Well I have settled this case for you,” Jihoon beams, and Daniel loved the way Jihoon’s mouth curled when he was proud of something. He takes the files and quickly scans through. However, the company name on the cover of the white paper was enough to ruin his day completely.

 

“Laiji?” He asked, clutching tightly at the file.

 

"It's a perfect match," Jihoon is excited as he runs Daniel through the plan. "Eider already has the manufacturing lines ready and Laiji offers a fresh injection of cash flow as investment as well as international expansion for the outerwear line. We're talking major partnership rather than takeover, and it's nearly at the same terms as the original acquisition!"

Daniel nods to show he’s listening, but his mind is elsewhere. Surely Lai Guanlin did not intend just a business meeting with Jihoon, and Jihoon couldn’t have possibly acquired all this information just because he said _pretty please_ , and Daniel could feel a tightening in his chest.

 

The one time he decides to finally take the leap and go for Park Jihoon, he falls with no one to catch him. He was starting to feel that same feeling of abandonment, the one he felt when his father packed up his bags and left without saying goodbye, the one he felt when he found out that Seongwoo was seeing him behind someone else’s back - the same feeling that was dropping down his chest now that Park Jihoon looked positively radiant after just one date with a charming CEO.

 

And his only reaction is to put up walls even higher.

  
"Just sign Lai Guanlin," Jihoon urged, handing Daniel the files he had painstakingly typed up.  
  
"Do you want me to work with Laiji," Daniel looked outside the window as he threw the files on the table carelessly, "Or are you just that desperate to see more of Lai Guanlin?”  
  
"What?" Jihoon asked, outraged at the insinuation.

 

Daniel, for the first time in his career, seemed to be mixing in his personal biases with the professional decision. But Jihoon was dead-set on keeping Daniel in line and focused on getting his name partnership. "Daniel, this is a deal you should take-"  
  
"You're just my secretary," Daniel shouts, shocking both Jihoon and himself.  But Daniel couldn’t stop the words that came next, because this was the only defense mechanism he knew. "I call the shots, and all you do is make sure to keep score. I don’t need you second guessing every single decision I make, and I don’t need you making these cheap deals behind my back."

 

Daniel stands up and gestures at the files as he seethes, pink hydrangeas lying forgotten on the floor. “Know your place, Park Jihoon.”  
  
Jihoon is taken aback and Daniel instantly regrets what he said as he sees Jihoon’s bright expression fall.  
  
"That’s enough, Daniel!" Seongwoo's voice piped up from the doorway. "Jihoon's proposal is perfect, so if you don't sign Lai Guanlin, then I will. And even then, we both represent him."

Jihoon was speechless as he looked at Ong Seongwoo, lips quivering in an attempt to hide the hurt.

  
“Jihoon, can you leave us for a while?" Seongwoo says gently, putting a hand on Jihoon’s arm and giving a light squeeze. Jihoon nods and briskly walks out, passing his cubicle, and heading straight for the elevators. _Know your place_ , his head screamed, _you’re just a secretary._

***

 

“What the fuck was that all about?” Seongwoo snapped, putting hands on his hips as he faced Daniel, who had sat back down with a horrified expression.

 

“I didn’t mean any of that,” Daniel’s voice was low, unsure, guilty as he stared at the files that Jihoon had carefully prepared for him. “He was leaving for that CEO, and I was scared, and it just...came out.”

 

Seongwoo’s expression softened as he walked up to Daniel’s desk. “Daniel,” he began as he sat across the blonde. “Not everyone is out to leave you.”

 

Daniel looked up, empty expression replaced by tears forming at the corners of his eyes. He forced out the words, “It’s hard to accept that coming from you.”

 

Seongwoo ignores the scathing tone Daniel used, and replies, “That’s just it.” Seongwoo pursed his lips, “Jihoon isn’t me, Daniel. He has stayed this whole time.”

 

Daniel looks up at Seongwoo, and he tries to ignore all the flashbacks - how he had found Seongwoo in another woman’s arms, how he found out that he was the _other party_ , how much it hurt when Seongwoo told him that he loved him - but he loved her, too. But the pain was no longer sharp and searing, and Jihoon was infinitely more important now.

 

“I messed up whatever good thing we had before,” Seongwoo starts. “But I won’t let you ruin what you have now with Park Jihoon just because you still can’t trust anyone.”

 

Daniel stayed silent.

 

“No number of apologies I make can undo what I did,” Seongwoo reassured, holding out an unsure hand to take Daniel’s in his. “And we’re well past the point of _running away_.”

 

“I know,” Daniel finally spoke. His place with Ong Seongwoo ended that fourth of July when he was crying in Jihoon’s arms. And Jihoon never left him since. “I don’t want to run away anymore.”

 

_Because Park Jihoon has given me every reason to stay._

 

Seongwoo gives Daniel an understanding nod. They no longer had any intention of running away together, but they both loved each other still - just in a different way now.

 

Daniel sucks in a breath. He couldn’t believe he was talking this way with Seongwoo.

 

“I think I’m falling for him,” he confides. “And it’s better this time than I’ve ever known.”

 

If Seongwoo came here to sweep Daniel off of his feet again, if he hoped there was a fourth chance for them, it didn’t show - because Ong Seongwoo just offers a fond glance and a knowing smile.

 

“Then why don’t you get him, you idiot?” Seongwoo exhales, surprised at how Daniel hadn’t changed much after all.

 

Daniel smiled at Seongwoo and returned the squeeze on his hand. Maybe burnt bridges can light his way back home.

 

The moment was interrupted when the glass door to Daniel’s office suddenly swung open, with Woojin angrily staring from the doorway at their interlocked hands.

 

“You heartless _motherfucker_ ,” Woojin growled, rushing over and throwing a punch on Daniel’s jaw as Seongwoo attempted to get in between them.

 

“Hey, hey!” Seongwoo held out an arm to keep Woojin from jumping Daniel right there, the blonde hissing as he rubbed at his jaw but made no move to retaliate.

 

“You told me you wouldn’t hurt him!” Woojin pushed past Seongwoo to grab Daniel by the collar.  The taller man makes no attempt to fight back, because he was definitely out of line with what he had said to Jihoon.

 

“All you can do is hurt him,” Woojin spat, giving Daniel another hard shove. “For once can you be selfless enough to just let him go? Just let him go, Daniel!”

 

“Woojin, I deserve another chance,” Daniel reasoned in an attempt to calm the younger boy down.

 

Woojin glared at Daniel before stabbing him on the chest with a finger. “What makes you think you’re any good for him?”

 

Daniel felt a prickling in his chest - because what Woojin was saying was true, but he also knew that he’s not losing Jihoon without at least trying.

 

***

 

Daniel and Seongwoo did meet with Eider’s CEO as well as the chairman of Laiji’s board, Guanlin’s father - and the following days were spent busily finalizing the terms and drafting up contracts.

 

Jihoon called in sick and had to go home that afternoon. And he was out sick for the next two days after that, all the while refusing to take Daniel’s calls.

 

Daniel was already worried to death with the hundred missed calls he was sending out, and was on his way to visit Jihoon’s apartment when he finally got through.

 

When Jihoon picks up on the third day, Daniel asks him to come over to the apartment - to celebrate the Eider win this time.

 

“And I have something important to say then,” Daniel smiled into his phone, relieved to hear Jihoon’s voice again.

 

“Me...me too,” came Jihoon’s quiet reply before the line clicked dead.

 

***

 

Daniel heard the doorbell go off as he was stirring at the pasta he prepared for the evening. He checks the setup - glasses of champagne, a home-cooked meal he had practiced several times, everything neat and tidy as he took off the apron around his waist and straightened his dress shirt and adjusted the way the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

 

Today was the day he tells Park Jihoon that Lai Guanlin wasn’t the only one who wanted a date with him. Kang Daniel was an eligible bachelor too, if Jihoon would have him.

 

He opens the door to find Jihoon dressed simply in an oversized yellow polo shirt and dark denim jeans. “Jihoon,” he greets, opening the door wider for the younger to step in. “You’re just in time, I just finished with the appetizers and-”

 

"I'm resigning," Jihoon interrupted, handing Daniel a folded piece of paper. “I have an offer from Laiji for a paralegal position and I think it’s a good career move.”

 

Jihoon barely looked up and almost refused to enter the warmth and the familiarity of the apartment. Daniel stared at Jihoon and wonders how long he had been crying, because his eyes are still swollen and he looked like he wasn’t getting much sleep - and this was not the welcome he had wanted to give.  
  
"I don't accept this," Daniel stared blankly as he tore the piece of paper as soon as he hit his hand. Jihoon resigning was never an option in his mind. "Listen, Jihoon, about you and me; I think we should give it a shot and-"  
  
"I'm dating Lai Guanlin," Jihoon chokes out. “Exclusively.”

 

He didn't want to hear what Daniel had to say, because his resolve would crack and then he's back to square one. Because it's Daniel, and with Daniel, he could never say no.

 

Jihoon had spent days trying to build up to this very moment. He had gone on a couple more dates with Guanlin, and it was _almost_ enough to make him temporarily forget about Daniel.

 

 _Almost_ \- because he has had the past two days to think about picking up what was left of his pride and trying to find his way without the sun in his life. And Kang Daniel fit perfectly with Ong Seongwoo - a senior partner he deserved, not with an employee who should learn his place.  
  
The words shot through Daniel's heart like a bullet. He was ready to take a chance on Park Jihoon, laid out everything, was willing to work through everything that was wrong with him, and that kiss in the club meant that Jihoon wanted this too - so to hear those words spoken so surely was tantamount to betrayal.  
  
"You can't," Daniel's mouth went dry. It sounded stupid, coming from him.

 

“What do you mean, I can-” Jihoon looked up confused, but suddenly Daniel's mouth was on his, taking him completely by surprise, and he struggles to pull away. He slams a fist on Daniel's chest, but Daniel's hold on his waist and his arm was iron. It took mere seconds to dissolve what he had worked on building for two days, and Jihoon hates how easily he fell back into this.

 

 _It’s the first kiss I can remember,_ Jihoon thinks as he opens his mouth in reflex when Daniel angles his head further into him. _And it’s better than I ever thought it would be._

 

Jihoon stands on his toes as he wraps his arms around Daniel’s neck, hungrily pulling at Daniel’s hair as the taller boy pulls him in, takes a few steps back, and they drop to the couch; Jihoon straddling Daniel’s lap as hands roamed around frantically.

 

Jihoon’s mind went blank as he kissed hard, running out of breath but refusing to let go, both hands alternating between pulling at Daniel’s hair and tracing Daniel’s jaw. He pushes his body flush against Daniel’s frame, trying to remove any space between them as Daniel’s hand grab for purchase against his waist, fingernails roughly trying to pull Jihoon down ever closer.

 

Daniel breaks the kiss and sighs into Jihoon’s mouth as he switched their position - Jihoon lying flat on the couch as Daniel towered over him, hands impatiently unbuttoning Jihoon’s shirt as he trailed kisses down Jihoon’s chin, to his jaw, to the hollow of his neck. He can hear the boy breathing heavily, small hands clutching at his back, small repressed moans rising up Jihoon’s throat as he alternated between needy kisses and greedy licks on the younger’s skin. Jihoon tightens his grip on Daniel’s back as the older boy runs teeth across the expanse of his exposed skin, and Jihoon groans in appreciation.

 

Jihoon arches his body up to meet Daniel, and he hears Daniel make a guttural sound in response, followed by a harsher suck on his throat. Jihoon opens his eyes, wanting to see Daniel - _because this moment was just perfect, it just felt right_ \- but he opens his eyes and sees a bouquet of hydrangeas on the coffee table instead.

 

And suddenly reality came crashing down. Ong Seongwoo. Lai Guanlin. _Jihoon wanting to move on from exactly this. Daniel deserving better._

 

“Daniel, stop,” Jihoon whispered, breathless as he rushedly pushed away and attempted to pull himself up into a sitting position.

 

“Don’t want to,” Daniel growled, trying to pull Jihoon back in but meeting resistance.

  
"No, Daniel," Jihoon panted, trying to resist the temptation to just ride this one out. When Daniel wouldn’t stop, Jihoon raised his voice angrily. "DANIEL.”  
  
The older boy reluctantly pulled away, hurt etched vaguely on his handsome features, and Jihoon looked away before he lost his resolve again. Jihoon pushed away from Daniel, fixing the buttons on his shirt as he moves a few seats away from Daniel on the couch.

 

“I don’t want this,” Jihoon lied. “I’m dating Guanlin, and if we do this, you’re going to be the _other_ man. Again.”

 

Jihoon knew where to cut Daniel where he’d bleed most. Because Daniel might enjoy this now, in the heat of the moment - but he’ll have to face the aftermath of his decisions sooner or later.

 

The hurt on Daniel’s face burned on the back of Jihoon’s mind as the blonde silently looked at him with an expression he couldn’t place, and he hoped he can erase that memory later on.

 

Daniel turns his back on Jihoon as he adjusts his own clothes. Jihoon waits for Daniel to say something, _anything_ \- but Daniel remains silent. Jihoon picks up the letter that Daniel had torn, pieces scattered on the carpet, and stands to leave.  
  
"You're not resigning," Daniel suddenly said, voice low and with finality. He didn’t even bother to look at Jihoon. "I need a secretary."  
  
_Secretary._ Desolation colored Jihoon's eyes before a flash of anger took over. "That's right, I'm your secretary."  
  
He takes a step forward.  
  
"Oh, Jihoon, can you slot in Ivy Club for Monday, oh, Jihoon, can you file the transcript of the Hite deposition - and while you're at it, why don't you order me an americano, and if it's not too much of a bother, why don't you drop by my apartment tonight for a quick fuck so I can pretend you're Ong Seongwoo?" Jihoon was hysterical.

"And you know - you fucking know - I'd do all that for you, Kang Daniel," Jihoon tries to avert his gaze as a single tear fell down his cheek, and his voice came out helpless and tired as a whimper built up in his chest.  
  
"I'd do that all for you."  
  
Daniel sat there, silently contemplating the drink on the table that had long been forgotten, the flowers in his closet that had a special dedication for Jihoon, the home-cooked dinner, the long-winded speech he had prepared for the evening, the sweet taste of Jihoon still fresh on his tongue.

 

Maybe Park Woojin was right. Jihoon deserved someone better; and if Jihoon doesn’t realize it, he had to make Jihoon see. He had to make sure Jihoon never looked back at him.

 

Because he shouldn’t be tied up in the mess that was Kang Daniel. He bit his tongue and prayed that he only had to hurt Jihoon just this last time.  
  
"And now I'm another notch in your bedpost, just like you wanted," Jihoon broke the unnerving silence, wiping his lips with his unbuttoned sleeve before abruptly turning to make a beeline for the entryway. "See you tomorrow."  
  
"Don't bother coming in," Daniel growled, heart breaking but face keeping a porcelain mask on.  
  
"What?" Jihoon spun on his heel. "I thought you rejected my resignation letter?"  
  
"You don't leave me," Daniel snarled, standing up from his position on the couch. Daniel was trying to push back a sob rising in his chest, hoping he sounded like the perfect asshole. "You think I need a secretary who's _that desperate_ ? You think I can't find a million more _exactly_ like you?"  
  
Deep inside, Daniel knew he was going to regret this, wanted to say exactly the opposite - _Don't leave me, you're one in a million, I love you_.

  
Jihoon's eyes widened as he saw a darkness in Daniel's eyes that was never meant for him, a tone of voice that Daniel never used with him.

  
Daniel forced out a smirk - because Woojin was right, the faster he cut Jihoon loose, the better for everyone. All the boy ever did was love him, and no matter which side Daniel picked - to let go of Jihoon or to hang desperately onto him - all he could do was hurt him.  
  
"You're fired," Daniel said simply, hiding all traces of emotion as his tone turned into condescension. "So why don’t you run along to Lai Guanlin and get into his bed next."  
  
Jihoon steeled himself. This was the very thing the two of them were trying to avoid. The moment when both their insecurities come crashing down to drive them both to an irreparable split - and their pride wasn't helping. Because Jihoon wanted to get on his knees and apologize, beg Daniel not to do this - _please don't take my sunshine away._  
  
Instead Jihoon blinks once, twice, and draws out the last words; he takes off the ring that hung on his neck and placed it on the table.

  
"Keep your ring, your words, and your trust," Jihoon looked straight into Daniel’s eyes. "They never belonged to me anyway."  
  
Daniel feels numb as the gold ring hit the table.  
  
"Goodbye, Daniel."  
  
Jihoon walks out the door and pulls the door behind him silently until it clicked - a quiet footnote to everything they _almost_ had.  
  
Daniel realizes he hasn’t been breathing- he's drowning, he wasn't thinking, and he did not want Jihoon out of his life, he wanted to take the boy in his arms and cover him with kisses and tell him, tell him that he wasn't a notch on the bedpost, he's the reason there were notches on the bedpost.  
  
But now everything had gone completely wrong, and the words kept ringing in his ears that sounded resolutely final: " _Goodbye, Daniel_ ."  
  
He picks up the drinking glass from the table and hurls it onto the wall, glass crashing all across the room, before slumping to the floor and letting the sobs rack through his body. Daniel's world was crumbling to pieces around him, and he was alone all over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was really really really difficult to write because I SWEAR I'M A FLUFF ADVOCATE FOR NIELWINK /crawls back to writing my happier fics/  
> I had to alternate between writing this and writing the final chapter just to balance the sad with the happy ending
> 
> Thank you so much for the comments so far and apologies for hurting u guys BUT this is the angstiest chapter, so things can only go up from here! Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated and help me write a better story so please keep them coming if you're enjoying (the pain) so far!
> 
> I also drafted out the rest of the chapters and it seems this will go on for a few more than intended. Please stick with me til the end because I promise the ending is worth it * w * Will try to finish this by next week so it's done before the comeback on the 19th (AAAAAA)
> 
> Chapter Song is "I Would Do Anything For You" by Foster the People :3 which should explain Daniel's feelings before everything went spiraling down in the last scene ;0 
> 
> PS Also pls dont hate on Daniel he's trying his best but he's just so broken ;__; #CFCDanielProtectionSquad2k18  
> THEY DESERVE EACH OTHER I JUST NEED TO GET ALL THEIR ISSUES OUT OF THE WAY  
> this author is 101% nielwink stan


	9. Losing Sleep / Somebody Else

_ Jihoon walks over to the bed with a steaming cup of coffee. Daniel grins at how absolutely ethereal Jihoon looked like under sunlight - dressed only in one of Daniel’s oversized dress shirts, the hem just long enough to preserve the boy’s modesty but short enough for Daniel to want him in bed that exact instant.  _

 

_ “I thought you didn’t drink coffee,” Daniel teased as Jihoon climbed into the bed to nestle beside him. His head rested lazily on the tufted headboard, enjoying the feeling of warm mornings and warmer companions. The early morning light streamed in through light linen curtains, casting an ethereal glow on Jihoon’s cheeks and coloring his auburn hair with fire.  _

 

_ Jihoon leans in to press a kiss - slow, soft, sincere - on Daniel’s lips as he pulled the younger closer to him, careful not to spill the steaming drink on the immaculate white sheets. Jihoon’s lips fit his so well that Daniel couldn’t believe how he managed to last without them. Jihoon breaks the kiss and Daniel frowns at the loss of contact.  _

 

_ “I wanted - to - give it - a try,” Jihoon responded, planting a few more kisses along Daniel’s face as he pulls the covers over the both of them.  He slowly shuffles down and against Daniel’s side, the older accommodating the warmth of Jihoon’s presence with a huge smile on his face. He tucks Jihoon’s head under his chin as the boy hums delightedly. _

 

_ “I can get used to mornings like this,” Daniel muses, and Jihoon closes his eyes as he holds the mug closer to his chest. Daniel kisses his forehead.  _

 

_ “You can’t get used to this,” Jihoon answered. Daniel looks down confused, and suddenly Jihoon was looking up at him with those big eyes, tears forming at the edges. “Because I’m leaving you, Daniel.” _

 

_ “What?” Daniel props up on his elbows, confused. _

 

_ “Goodbye, Daniel.” Jihoon drops the mug and the coffee began to stain the sheets and burn hot on Daniel. “Goodbye.” _

 

Daniel snapped up, bullets of sweat dropping down his chest. 

 

Daniel knew what it was like to be a child afraid of the night, alone and afraid - and he wanted to find Jihoon and take him back, tell him everything, beg him to care, beg him to want him, _beg him to love him._

 

But it was still dark, there was no coffee on the sheets, and the only thing that reminded him of Jihoon's presence in the room was the golden ring that rested on his bedside.

 

***

 

“Lai Guanlin is in the boardroom,” Seongwoo crosses his arms as he stares at Daniel, who was trying to look busy poring over old cases in the firm’s library. 

 

“I don’t have the time of day,” Daniel replied without looking up. He was annotating some case files for KSwiss and Cold Brew, which were a lot less important than their newest client who was already waiting for almost half an hour at the boardroom. 

 

“No,” Seongwoo shoots back, “We need to sign him _ today _ , and I can’t do that alone because he’s  _ your  _ client.” 

 

“He’s all yours if you want him,” Daniel snaps as he stares up at Seongwoo and enunciates, “I don’t. Have. Time.”

 

Seongwoo glances at Daniel with something that looks a lot like pity - the man in front of him looked like he hadn’t slept in days, his handsome face gaunt, and his bright eyes dimmed by how tired they looked - before he shrugged and muttered, “Suit yourself.” 

 

Daniel snaps the books shut and buries his face in his hands as Seongwoo walks out. 

 

“ _ What are these, _ ” Daniel hears Jihoon’s voice inside his head, and sees the boy’s familiar face as he runs back through his memories, “ _ Go away, let me handle those files. You’re hopeless without me. _ ”

 

Daniel wishes that Jihoon were there with him, sifting through files in the library, calling him out for being a  _ child _ , leaving those gentle touches to his wrist whenever he got overwhelmed with the case details.

 

Every single part of this firm held a memory of him and Park Jihoon, from the corners of his office to the recesses of the firm’s library. Everything hurt to look at, and Daniel could feel his brain going blank whenever the memories came. He’d already had to lock himself in the men’s bathroom twice because he felt like throwing up - a cold sweat creeping up his spine whenever he’s reminded of all the awful things he had said a few nights back. 

 

And how he wished he could take all that back, how he could take  _ him _ back. 

 

But Jihoon was no longer part of his everyday routine, and he wondered how the sun could still rise at the  _ same damn time _ everyday, how everything around him maintained their routines like clockwork, like the tick-tocking of the loud clock on his office wall - how everything could still  _ seem the same _ when nothing was alright.

 

When Daniel had tried building up the courage to meet and sign with Lai Guanlin a few days before, he heard the young CEO talking on the phone:

 

“ _ I’m fine, Jihoon _ ,” Guanlin laughed, facing outside the window as he spoke into the phone. “ _ Everything’s going perfectly. No, I didn’t get lost! _ ”

 

Daniel had frozen in his tracks and wanted to run away - this was not something he wanted to hear. 

 

“ _ Yes, I’m meeting with them, _ ” Guanlin assured. “ _ And then we’ll have dinner at your place?”  _

 

Daniel’s stomach tightened as his head raced with a hundred memories of crashing Jihoon’s place for a quick celebration over some case or another. His mind supplied the memories of Jihoon lounging on a beige leather couch, flushed with excitement over the victory, giggling in the way he did when he wasn’t trying to be clever - and Daniel imagined how Lai Guanlin would look like sitting on the same spaces he used to occupy. How Jihoon would rest in arms that weren’t his.

 

“ _ I’d love that,”  _ Lai Guanlin’s voice continued, “ _ And I love you too. _ ”

 

Daniel spun around and rushed to the bathroom then, sweating bullets and feeling something coming up his throat, as his heart plummeted at the words he was never able to say to Jihoon when he had him.

 

Back at the library, Daniel closes his eyes tight.

 

“ _ Daniel _ ,” he hears that sweet voice in his head again, the way Jihoon used to call his name. “ _ Daniel, Daniel, Daniel _ .” 

 

He blinks to find that his tears already stained the files that lay motionless in front of him in the silence of the library.

  
  


***

  
  


Boa takes a few tentative steps in as she passes the door.

"I got a call from Cold Brew's legal counsel saying that you didn't show up at the meeting today," she said.

"I didn't have my agenda today, I'll call them up and ask them to reschedule," Daniel spared just a passing glance at his colleague and returned to signing and stacking some documents on his desk. "Just had to catch up on some paperwork."

"Jihoon's sick today?" She asks as she gestured at the empty cubicle that guarded the glass entryway into Daniel's office.

"Jihoon's fired." Daniel curtly responded as he continued shuffling the papers on his desk. "And I'd appreciate any recommendations you have for a new legal secretary."

"Jihoon's fi- what?" Boa's tone shifted from curious to mildly outraged as she leaned over to hover at Daniel. "Since when did you go around firing employees you had fought tooth and nail to keep?"

"He was going to quit anyway, so I beat him to it," Daniel answered, exasperated as he threw the papers into a drawer haphazardly and slammed it shut. "And I'd appreciate it if we never bring him up again. Now, instead of questioning my decision - could you please ask whoever to draft me up a candidate list for a new secretary?"

"I don't appreciate that tone, Daniel." Boa tutted, standing up to her full height on her stilettos as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Now you can act like a spoiled child and throw around orders, or you can man the hell up and tell me what exactly is going on."

Daniel caught himself for a moment and let out a loud sigh as he slumped down his chair. If anyone knew him almost as well as Jihoon, it would be Boa. He tried taking it to a test of wills and just stared back at Boa defiantly for a few beats, before finding that he didn't have the time of day or the strength left in him to deal with this.

"I fucked up," he admitted, voice cracking with the strain of having to admit it. “But he’s doing better now.”

 

Boa placed a hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “You _ think _ he’s doing better now.” 

 

“I’ve seen him with somebody else,” Daniel looked up with a forced smile. “He’s happier.”

Boa stayed silent as Daniel paused before continuing, “And I moved on from Seongwoo before, I can do it again.” 

 

“Alright,” Boa conceded - she can’t start swinging a bat around a china shop - not when Daniel was this delicate. “But I got a call from Lee Hyun.”

 

“SCI?” Daniel replied, disinterested.

 

“Yes, but this time representing his firm and not his client,” Boa answered. “He wanted a meeting with you this afternoon - it’s something important.”

 

“Okay, I’ll have Jih-” Daniel started, but bit his lip at how automatically that came out of his mouth. “I’ll call him to get the details.”

 

Boa knotted her brow. Daniel was definitely off his game. “Do you want me to take this instead?” she volunteered as she moved to step out of the office.

 

Daniel stared at his case files and decided that he needed to get it together. 

 

“No,” he sighed. “I’ll take it. I lost a secretary, not my mind.”

 

His managing partner nodded, but looked like she disagreed. Because the whole world knew that Jihoon wasn’t just Daniel’s secretary.

 

"Daniel," Boa turned around to look at the distraught senior partner. "It’s not my place, but...when you broke it off with Seongwoo years ago, you didn't take it _ this _ hard."

 

***

 

Daniel treads one of the decorated cobblestone paths in the park. Meticulously manicured bushes arched over the passageways and vines artfully decorated the trellises that littered the entire garden. He avoids looking at all the couples that littered the area, sitting on the benches and whispering sweet nothings as the cool started to set in for the afternoon. 

 

This was the last place he expected to meet with an opposing lawyer.

 

Daniel skipped up the colored stone steps and spots the SCI lawyer drinking tea from a dainty cup on the terrace of the park’s cafe. 

 

The contrast between their sharp suits and the floral, delicate surroundings of the garden park was almost laughable.

 

“Nice of you to join me, Kang,” Lee’s sharp eyes spotted Daniel immediately and gestured for him to the wrought-iron seat across him.

 

“I didn’t know you were into places like this,” Daniel sneered as he took the seat opposite the other lawyer. Nothing like destroying jerks like Lee Hyun to bring him back up from the slump he had been in for the last couple of weeks. “Sorry, but you’re not my type, Lee.”

 

“Oh, I’m not into you, nor these kinds of places,” Lee replied and he took a sip from his cup as his eyebrows motioned to something below the terrace they were sitting at. “But apparently he is.” 

 

Daniel looks at Lee with a confused expression before following his line of sight.

 

He didn’t expect to see that familiar auburn hair dyed a dark chocolate brown, that pink jacket that he seemed to like too much, the way the boy bashfully covered his face whenever he laughed - hiding his face slightly in embarrassment, when nothing was embarrassing at all with that smiling face. 

 

_ Park Jihoon. _

 

Daniel winced, it was like seeing the sun for the first time after being in the dark for so long. 

 

“I was surprised to learn that he no longer worked for you,” Lee mocked, observing Daniel’s reponse carefully. “I was almost starting to feel bad whenever I thought of secretaries, and it kept reminding me of this Park Jihoon of yours.” 

 

Daniel watched as the tall figure of Lai Guanlin approached the younger man, and the two stood in the middle of the crowd passing across the park. His heart clenched as he watched Jihoon press a kiss on Lai Guanlin’s cheek, and the taller boy putting a hand on Jihoon’s waist. 

 

“Oh,” Lee continued, giving a soft gasp before turning to him with a voice filled with malice. “I thought he was  _ your  _ Jihoon?” 

 

“Are we here to ogle couples,” Daniel growls, and Lee grins at how easily he was able to lead Daniel into this. “Or talk business?”

 

There was a bite in Daniel’s reply that contained none of his usual cockiness, and it was not lost on Lee Hyun.

 

“KSwiss suddenly started buying Laiji stocks the morning after you met Mr. Lai.” Lee answered, putting down the cup he was drinking from as he continued to watch the two men who seemed to be whispering about something in one of the park benches.

 

“And…?” Daniel replied, barely able to take his eyes off the scene that was happening in front of him. Half of him hoped that Jihoon missed him as much as he did, but something about the boy’s laughing face told him that he didn’t have to worry. Jihoon was happier now. 

 

“You can’t tell me it was a coincidence that your long-time client simply started buying Laiji stocks just because they felt like it,” Lee continued, eyes darting back to Daniel and enjoying the expression on the blonde’s face. 

 

Daniel’s head snapped to the lawyer across him. 

 

“Are you accusing my client of insider trading?” Daniel snapped. He was in no mood for beating around the bush. KSwiss did not know about the acquisition, so their investment was their own - it was just a stroke of luck that Laiji was acquired by Eider and was looking to be a very attractive investment.

 

“Maybe,” Lee answered, dragging the conversation longer. “I was thinking of suing your client for that, but then I realized - “ Lee took a sip and made a show of looking back at Jihoon and Guanlin a few meters away from them. “That I should remember about a certain secretary who brought me to my knees.”

 

Daniel felt his palms grow cold as everything clicked into place.

 

“Leave him alone, Lee,” Daniel snarled, fists closed so tight he could feel his fingernails digging into his skin. 

 

“But you told me to remember him always?” Lee teased, tossing an envelope across the table at Daniel. “So I had him followed, and it seems he uses that pretty face of his to gather information for insider trading.” 

 

Daniel shot a glare at Lee before taking the file and examining the contents. It was a photo of Jihoon and Guanlin sitting cozily beside each other at the Aubergine. And then one of Jihoon planting a kiss on Guanlin’s cheek. 

 

And then one of Jihoon getting into Daniel’s car. 

 

The color drained from Daniel’s face as Lee continued. 

 

“Now isn’t he just the perfect little casanova,” Lee tutted as he tipped his head over to where the new couple were sitting. “Look, he’s laughing with the Laiji CEO again. I wonder if he could laugh that hard behind bars?” 

 

“You don’t have proof of anything,” Daniel bluffed. All the pictures may be coincidental, and KSwiss investing in Laiji definitely was not at Daniel’s prompting, and was most definitely not because of Jihoon. There was nothing incriminating here - but with the way Lee was approaching this, Daniel did not trust the man to use any clean tactics to drive his point home.

 

“I have an entire case planned out,” Lee laughed. “I just hope that pretty little secretary of yours looks good in orange. I haven’t seen a whore in a prison outfit.” 

 

Daniel started to see red.

 

“He’s not my secretary,” he growled as he stands up and takes Lee roughly by the collar, prompting the man to sputter. “And mark my words, if you as much as touch  _ a hair on his head,  _ I will fucking  _ obliterate  _ you.”

 

“I’ll back off,” Lee chokes as Daniel pushes him against the wall. “But I want you taking his place.”

 

Daniel figures out Lee’s plan in a split second and the realization was clear on his face. Jihoon wasn’t the target - Jihoon was being used as the bait. And Daniel was taking it hook, line, and sinker.

 

“Yes, Kang,” Lee spat, “ I want you stripped of your license and in jail - and then we’ll know which one of us has been brought to his knees.”

 

Daniel shoves Lee off and storms away, quickly rushing through the gardens.  _ He needed to find a way to cover all the bases and protect Jihoon. _

 

He is stopped on his path by a passing group of children, and he takes the moment to look up - only to see Jihoon looking up at him from a distance, mouth slightly open and bright eyes wide with surprise. Jihoon continued staring, and Daniel wanted to run over and take the boy in his arms - only Lai Guanlin’s arms were already around his shoulders.

 

Daniel bites his lower lip so hard he tasted blood.  _ I’ll protect you no matter what, Park Jihoon. _

 

Daniel looks down to the ground and resumes walking away, unaware of the fact that Jihoon continues watching him walk away even as Guanlin had his arms around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HOPE THIS WASN'T AS PAINFUL AS THE EARLIER CHAPTERS!!!!
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! (and help me keep my deadline lol) Please let me know if you enjoyed the story in one way or another, it does mean a lot:3
> 
> Chapter Songs:  
> Losing Sleep by John Newman <\-- THIS SONG INSPIRED THIS WHOLE FIC GUYS  
> Somebody Else by The 1975
> 
> I am honestly still overwhelmed that Chapter 8 hurt so many people ;_____;  
> Don't worry, the boys stop being idiots next chapter, please look forward to it!
> 
> Only a few more chapters to go! Please stick with me til the end~


	10. Lights Will Guide You Home

Jihoon hated how he remembers every inch of Daniel’s face - how it looked so _sad_ when they accidentally locked eyes that afternoon at the garden park.

 

“Jihoon?”

 

He hated how he couldn’t forget every nuance of Daniel’s expression - how he knew that something was definitely wrong. His mind thinks back to the time three years ago when Daniel had lost Seongwoo, and it broke his own heart to see Daniel having to go through the same thing again.

 

“Jihoon.”

 

He especially hated how he constantly had to pretend like everything was fine and that he was _happier_ now, not when all he wanted to do was make things right with Daniel. Not when all he wanted was for Daniel to be happy, too.

 

“Park Jihoon!”

 

Jihoon absent-mindedly lifted his head up to see Guanlin worriedly looking over at him from the driver’s seat. “You okay?” the young CEO looked back up on the road as they approached the legal firm Jihoon used to work at. His stomach drops at having to see this place again.

 

“Yeah,” he lies. “Just having a slight headache.”

 

Guanlin had asked him to come along, asked him if he could make Daniel walk into the boardroom because they _really_ had to finalize the acquisition papers already. Jihoon had agreed then, when Lai Guanlin was begging for his help over dinner the other evening.

 

 _Because who the hell gave Kang Daniel the audacity to snub a client?_ Jihoon had thought, wanting to knock sense into that dumb blonde head.

 

But now Jihoon thinks that it wasn’t a good idea after all, as he stands behind Guanlin who was filling up his details at the building’s reception lobby. Because this place reminded him of Daniel - and he hated how he didn’t hate Kang Daniel one bit.

 

“Park Jihoon?” a gruff voice came from behind him. Jihoon turns to see who it was, only to find himself facing two police officers.

 

“Yes?” he replies tentatively.

 

“You are under arrest for insider trading,” the officer held up an arrest warrant. “We’ll have to take you in for questioning.”

 

“What?” Jihoon protests, “I didn’t-”

 

It suddenly clicks. Daniel was at the garden park with Lee Hyun. The officer had mentioned insider trading. He was with Lai Guanlin. He left the legal firm after consolidating Laiji’s confidential information for Daniel - who was also the lawyer of some investing businesses.

 

This whole thing was a setup.

 

“Officer, you must be mistaken,” Jihoon begs, struggling at the officers’ pressure.

 

Guanlin walks up to him, slightly frazzled at the scenario. “What is the meaning of this?”

 

“I’m sorry, sir, but he’ll have to come with us,” the other policeman replied politely. “It will be easier if he doesn’t struggle.” The officer gingerly pulled Jihoon’s arm behind his back as the smaller boy protested.

 

“I’ll call Daniel and have him help,” Guanlin cried as the police cuffed Jihoon’s wrists together.

 

“No, don’t,” Jihoon begged, pulling against the police in his adamant refusal before an idea crossed his mind. “Call Woojin. Tell him...”

 

Jihoon licked his lips as he looked up at Guanlin and hoped there was no fear in his eyes. “Tell him _not_ to tell Daniel.”

 

***

 

“I’m amazed you still haven’t said a word,” Lee Hyun leaned forward against the steel table separating him and Park Jihoon, who had taken off his coat and sat there with a disinterested expression and a black dress shirt.

 

Lee sighed. “If you won’t speak, then I will.”

 

He stood up and buttoned his suit as he looked down at Jihoon. “I want Kang Daniel representing you in court,” Lee grinned as Jihoon looked up with eyebrows crossed. “I’d love to see how much he is willing to give up for someone like you.”

 

Lee turns off the videocam that was monitoring the investigation and walks out the door.

 

Jihoon sat in silence inside the cold, dark interrogation room and racks his head for a solid defense. He hoped Woojin will pull in Minhyun or Jisung for the case, because he had an alibi, he had an idea how to play this out in court, but he needed a strong lawyer to stand there for him.

 

The door buzzed and Jihoon looked up to see Woojin worriedly entering in a khaki suit.

 

“Jihoon!” Woojin cried as he ran over to give Jihoon a quick hug. “Are you alright? Did they beat you up?”

 

“I’m fine,” Jihoon smiled, relieved to see a familiar face at this time. Woojin sat at chair across Jihoon. “I need someone to represent me at court - this is obviously a bullshit case. I didn’t do anything, and we can prove it.”

 

“I’m an intern, Jihoon,” Woojin said. “I can’t defend you in court as a lawyer, and I can’t bust you out of jail as a friend.”

 

Jihoon’s throat went dry as he sat back against the cold bite of the steel chair. "Bring it to Minhyun, he'll take it."

 

"Minhyun is working on the Hite merger," Woojin replied, scratching the back of his head. “But I pulled in someone else-”

 

“No,” Jihoon’s eyes widened as he dips forward to stare at Woojin. “I _told you_ not to tell him.”

 

The door buzzed just then, signalling the arrival of someone who was permitted to enter the interrogation room. Jihoon felt his breath hitch as he walked in - less bluster and less swagger, suit not as meticulously sharp and looking more like he ran down to the police station than anything else. Daniel panted as he stood there, the door shutting behind him.

 

Woojin looked back and offered Jihoon an apologetic glance. “I’ll leave the two of you alone for now,” he muttered in a low voice. Woojin patted Daniel’s shoulder before buzzing out of the room.

 

_*_

 

_Daniel was in the middle of finding a solid defense for Park Jihoon before the arrest warrant was filed, when Woojin ran into his office._

 

_“Are you here to punch me again,” Daniel barely looked up from the files he was browsing through. He had no time to waste._

 

_“Jihoon’s in jail, you asshole,” Woojin blurted out then. “And you’re the only one I can trust to get him out.”_

 

_Daniel looked up as he balled his hands into a fist. “Let’s go.”_

 

_*_

 

There was a silence as Jihoon refused to look up at Daniel, who unbuttoned his suit before sitting down. He didn’t know where to start - not when their last meeting was that evening at Daniel’s apartment. He didn’t know whether to beg in apology or to get angry - all he knew was that he _missed_ Daniel like hell.

 

“Your boyfriend paid for bail,” Daniel broke the silence.

 

Jihoon’s heart fell at the fact that Daniel had to say that. These weren’t the words he wanted to hear.

 

“So once you’re out of here,” Daniel stated, quietly looking down at his hands. “We settle.”

 

Jihoon’s head snaps up.

 

“As much as you want to prove that you’re an excellent closer,” Jihoon stood up, voice rising. “This isn’t something you should be _settling_ , this is something you should be _winning_.”

 

Jihoon felt a searing pain in his chest at the fact that Daniel wanted to settle - because to settle meant that they were admitting Jihoon’s guilt. It meant that Daniel believed that Jihoon did something wrong - that Jihoon used Daniel to involve him in illegal activities.

 

“I’m innocent,” Jihoon started, feeling a strong desire to just cry against Daniel’s chest because this was just _unfair_. “I didn’t leak any data to KSwiss, I didn’t illegally obtain data from Guanlin, none of that was my intention, everything’s just coincidental-”

 

“I know,” Daniel replied, longingly staring at Jihoon, surprised at his own control not to take the emotional boy in his arms right then.  

 

“I didn’t betray you,” Jihoon continued in a broken voice, more concerned that Daniel _hated_ him after all this rather than the fact that he was facing a suit and hours in jail. “I would never, ever betray you.”

 

“I _know_ ,” Daniel repeated, holding himself back because he wanted nothing more than to comfort Jihoon and make this all go away. Instead, he focuses on bottling those feelings away and focus on the task at hand.

 

“Lee Hyun wants me,” Daniel admitted. “We settle so he puts me in jail instead of you. If I win this, he will just keep coming back at you.”

 

Jihoon was stunned silent. He did not want Daniel throwing away _everything -_ his career, his life - just because of a threat from some low-life lawyer who was looking for revenge. Better him than Daniel.

 

“Then I’ll plead guilty,” Jihoon answers. He could not imagine Daniel’s radiance trapped inside dark walls.

 

Daniel pauses for a beat before roughly pushing against the steel table, making a loud screeching noise against the ceramic floor.

 

“You want to go to prison?” Daniel stands up and strides over to where Jihoon stood across him, grabbing Jihoon by the collar and pushing him hard against the wall. “Park Jihoon, you want to feel something like this behind bars? Fight back!”

 

Jihoon struggled for a while against Daniel’s strong arms pinning him against the wall but fails to push the taller man off. He shoves hard at Daniel but Daniel pushes him up against the wall even harder.

 

“You don’t know what they do to guys like you in prison!” Daniel shouts, releasing Jihoon and making a rough gesture to face Jihoon squarely. “You won’t last one day in there!”

 

"I'M TERRIFIED!" Jihoon managed, voice breaking. "Are you happy now, Daniel? Was that what you wanted to hear? Because what good does this do-"

 

“Me for you,” Daniel replied quietly. “I can make this go away.”

 

Jihoon wanted to punch Daniel for being so obstinate, but he bites it back. “We fight,” Jihoon replies. “I’m the client, and I want to try this in court before we settle. I’ll ask Ong Seongwoo to arrange a mock trial at the office.”

 

Daniel stared silently at Jihoon.

 

“If you manage to win this case against Seongwoo,” Jihoon licked his lips. “You can definitely win it against Lee Hyun.”

 

***

 

True to his word, Jihoon had requested Seongwoo to organize a mock trial at their office - held late at night with only a few trusted members of the legal firm in attendance. The senior partners stood there, Jisung with a worried expression, Minhyun looking as serene as ever, and Ong Seongwoo sorting through his files as he sat as first chair in the opposition’s side. Woojin sat beside him.

 

Jihoon sat quietly beside Daniel. He asked Seongwoo to be ruthless - because Lee Hyun would not let up once they actually went to court. He steeled himself as he would most probably be answering very personal, very sensitive questions - and Seongwoo was more than capable of eviscerating him on the witness stand.

 

Daniel flips through his arguments in silence. Jihoon was right beside him, but felt so far away. He could see Lai Guanlin in his peripheral, occasionally leaning forward to leave tight squeezes on Jihoon’s hand. He tries to convince himself that at least Jihoon would be alright once his settlement with Lee Hyun pushes through.

 

Even if he wins this mock trial, he was still not convinced that he wanted to go to trial against Lee Hyun - not when Lee knew all about Park Jihoon. He would rather go to jail than have Jihoon hurt in any way.

 

***

 

Boa sat at the head of the table and called the “court” to session. She turns to Seongwoo.

 

“You may call your first witness.”

 

Seongwoo stands up and shoots Daniel a smirk - and Daniel gulps. Seongwoo had already asked for forgiveness for what he was about to do, and Daniel had told him to bring his worst. Better to bleed now with family and know where not to get bitten when it’s the enemy’s turn.

 

“I would like to call Kang Daniel to the stand,” Seongwoo opens. Everyone in the room looks shocked, including Daniel. He was expecting Jihoon or Guanlin to be called first.

 

“Daniel,” Boa calls as the surprise wears off and Daniel is sworn in.

 

“Were you aware of any inside trading that was occurring while Laiji wasn’t a signed client at this law firm?” Seongwoo began.

 

“There was no inside trading going on.” Daniel replied confidently. Jihoon was almost relieved to see Daniel back in his environment - somewhere Daniel didn’t have to pretend to be strong in.

 

“Is it true that you sent your secretary to meet with Lai Guanlin?” Seongwoo asks, holding up a pen to gesture around.

 

“No, it was purely coincidental. They just happened to be in the same place that evening.” Daniel replied. He didn’t even have to prepare for this because he simply needed to tell the truth.

 

“Did you authorize this relationship between Park Jihoon and Lai Guanlin?”  
  


Daniel flashed a look at Park Jihoon, because this was starting to get personal.

 

“I can’t authorize a relationship, Ong Seongwoo.” Daniel replied. The line of questioning was leading somewhere he didn’t want to go.

 

“Yes or no, Mr. Kang,” Seongwoo prodded. “Did you tell Jihoon that he can go with Lai Guanlin?”

 

Daniel’s memory flashes back to a few nights ago. _"You're fired," Daniel said simply, hiding all traces of emotion as his tone turned into condescension. "So why don’t you run along to Lai Guanlin and get into his bed next."_

 

“I told Jihoon he could go with Lai Guanlin.” Daniel admitted, avoiding Jihoon’s gaze.

 

“Then you did authorize this connection,” Seongwoo concluded.

 

“I authorized it as a personal arrangement, and this has nothing to do with Eider nor Laiji.” Daniel argued back.

 

“Then is it true that you fired Park Jihoon to hide the illegal acquisition of information from Laiji so Eider can drive up their stock?”

 

“What?” Daniel stared at Ong Seongwoo. “No, I fired him for personal reasons.”

 

“Then full responsibility falls to Park Jihoon,” Seongwoo stated like it was a fact. “He was obviously working of his own accord in these illegal activities. But,” Seongwoo paced back and forth and changed his tone, “Why are you defending him in court?”

 

Seongwoo approached the stand and Jihoon could feel his blood run cold.

 

“Is it true, Kang Daniel, that you have had a string of lovers that you do not get personally involved with?”

 

“Seongwoo this isn’t relevan-”

 

“Answer the question!”

 

“Seongwoo, if this isn’t headed anywhere, I’ll have to ask you to change your line of questioning,” Boa warned.

 

“I am trying to prove motive through character, your honor.” Seongwoo replied.

 

“Yes,” Daniel gritted.

 

“And is it true that Park Jihoon had to book these one-night stands into your agenda, and maybe wanted to get back at you for being an inconsiderate boss? I mean, who wanted to know who his boss gets into bed with every single evening,” Seongwoo shrugged his shoulders as he continued.

 

Daniel swallowed. Seongwoo was starting to get under his skin, and he had to bring up the fact that Jihoon was hurt by all that Daniel had done before.

 

“I quote one of Park Jihoon’s messages to his colleague, Park Woojin,” Seongwoo said, “ _My boss is an asshole and I’m being treated like shit._ ”

 

“You’re taking this out of context.” Daniel growled. Jihoon tightened his grip on the table. He didn’t expect their banter to be used in court - no, it couldn’t be used in court - so where was Seongwoo taking this?

 

“So if you’re such an asshole boss,” Seongwoo pieced his argument together. “And you fired him because he’s an incompetent secretary, and everything is just personal circumstance, as you claim - why are you on the stand defending him?”

 

Jihoon wanted to stop this now. He made a mistake in asking for a mock trial.

 

“Because the Daniel I know,” Seongwoo’s words came fast and ruthless. “Doesn’t give a damn about anyone else’s feelings if he wants to win a case, cannot trust _anyone_ to save his life, and has a shaky background in keeping relationships, even with _his own parents_?”

 

 _Wrong, wrong, wrong._ Jihoon thought, he wanted to jump in to Daniel’s defense, ask Seongwoo to knock this off - what did anyone get from watching Daniel get humiliated on the stand? In front of the partners and everyone else?

 

Daniel winced. He was being eviscerated by Ong Seongwoo, mercilessly, as any bloodthirsty shark would do once they smelled a target. And Daniel was bleeding all over the water.

 

But this was what they were going to face in court if they went to trial, so he lets him.

 

“You’re a cold-hearted, ruthless closer,” Seongwoo’s voice was rising as he confronted Daniel on the stand. “And you expect me to believe that you actually grew a _heart_ instead of coming up with these ridiculous lies to cover up your illegal behavior?”

 

Jihoon couldn’t hear this anymore, couldn’t bear the look on Daniel’s face, couldn’t accept that his sun was being swallowed by darkness.

 

“Objection!” Jihoon stands up, tears already forming at the corners of his eyes.

 

Boa looked at Jihoon, “You’re not authorized to do that in a legal proceeding,” she said.

 

“This is out of line,” Jihoon cried as Guanlin held him back to get him to sit down. “He doesn’t deserve this, call it off!”

 

Boa was about to call for order, but Seongwoo was raising his voice above Jihoon’s.

 

“Why are you lying for him, Daniel?” Seongwoo shouted, approaching Daniel on the stand. “WHY?”

 

“BECAUSE I LOVE HIM!” Daniel’s voice cut across the noise, echoing across the walls as the room fell into silence.

 

Jihoon looked at Daniel in surprise and found the man staring straight at him.

 

“The only defense I have,” Daniel smiled sadly at Jihoon with a look that tried to say _it’s all going to be okay,_ as he answered the question that Seongwoo had thrown.

 

 

 

“Is that I am in love with Park Jihoon.”

 

 

 

 

 

For a split second, Jihoon felt like it was just him and Daniel in the room, as his hands moved up to cover his mouth and he felt a single tear fall down his cheek, Daniel’s gaze burning through him with those sad, beautiful eyes. He had never thought he’d hear those words, and he also never knew how much he wanted to hear them.

 

And how much he wanted to say it back.

 

“That’s enough,” Boa says, voice cutting through the tension and silence in the air. Daniel immediately pushes back on the seat and runs out, avoiding eye contact with anyone as he went. Jihoon stood up to follow him but was stopped by the realization that Guanlin was right beside him.

 

Jihoon slowly turned around to see the young CEO, hoping to the heavens that his tears would stop falling. Guanlin was lovely, amazing, and everything anyone could ever ask for - and Park Jihoon did not enjoy breaking hearts. He steeled himself, ready to beg and apologize -

  
“Go,” Guanlin offered a smile as he lightly pushed on Jihoon’s shoulder. He had always known to whom Jihoon’s heart belonged. “That’s where you’re supposed to be.”

 

Jihoon offers Guanlin a look that held everything he ever wanted to say, squeezes his hand in appreciation, and hoped that someone someday would come along and give the young man the love that he deserved. Because there was a man just outside on the hall who needed Jihoon right now.

 

“Daniel,” Jihoon called out as he ran after him. “Daniel!”

 

Boa turned to Seongwoo after Jihoon had rushed out. She sighed, “Was all that necessary?”

 

Seongwoo gave a small smirk and shrugged, before turning to Woojin who was sitting in attendance. “Woojin, did you get the papers they requested before?”

 

Woojin smiled back. “Of course.”

 

***

 

Daniel sat inside his office, chest heaving. He hated feeling this open, _this vulnerable_. For all his years being a successful lawyer, he’s always had his cards hidden, always had the final say, always knew the dirt on someone else, while nobody could faze him because nobody _knew_ him - but everything about Park Jihoon made him want to lay everything out on the table.

 

He stared at his hands, feeling light-headed at how everything had come to this.

 

“Daniel!” Jihoon rushes into the office, and pauses at the doorway when he sees Daniel sitting back on the sofa. The two exchange long glances, neither of them sure of what would come next. The ticking of the wall clock fills the silence as Jihoon swallows. His tears wouldn’t stop falling from that moment at the mock trial.

 

“Daniel,” he whispers, chapped lips quivering as they parted.

 

Daniel forces a smile. He didn’t do all this for Jihoon to still be sad.

 

“Have I told you,” he starts, fiddling with his shaking fingers while trying to make light of their situation. “That you look _beautiful_ even when you cry?”

 

There’s an awkward pause as Jihoon takes a few steps forward, walking into the space between Daniel’s legs.

 

“I look better when I don’t,” Jihoon quips back, but the break in his voice betrayed all the emotions that were threatening to pour out.

 

“Then stop crying,” Daniel forces a smile as he looks up at Jihoon. The younger boy was so close, standing in the space between his legs, and all he has to do is reach out and hold him. And then maybe everything will be alright.

 

“No more pretending,” Jihoon whispers, lifting up a hand to run it through Daniel’s hair, prompting the lawyer to look straight into the galaxies in his eyes. “You don’t have to pretend you’re okay - I’ll be here no matter what.”

 

“I’ll be fine,” Daniel started, hoping it came out convincing enough. Jihoon leans down and runs his fingers across Daniel’s cheek before resting at his jaw. “I told you, it will be better for us to settle, I can just do a few years in jail-”

 

“ _I love you_ ,” Jihoon says with a small smile as he takes Daniel’s head in both his hands and leans even lower to plant a kiss on Daniel’s lips.

 

Something inside Daniel tips and breaks the brittle facade he’s had to put up all these years. He was tired, _so tired_ , of having to be strong, of being alone, of people leaving. He was so tired of heartbreak, so tired of being afraid, so tired of holding back.

 

Jihoon was here, and if it’s Park Jihoon, then his words and his trust had somewhere to rest after all.

 

Daniel feels hot tears fall down his cheek as Jihoon continues to kiss him deeper, none of it hot and fast, none of it driven by need or desperation - it was just _Daniel_ , it was just _Jihoon -_ and it felt a lot like love. He breathes in the scent of Jihoon, and it reminded him of spring and sunlight.

 

He holds out his arms to tighten around the boy’s waist - Daniel leaning forward on the sofa as Jihoon stepped in to close the space between them as he released the kiss.

 

Daniel pulls him in even closer, face buried against Jihoon’s chest now as he let out all the tears against the warmth.

 

“Please don’t stop _loving_ me,” Daniel cried out loud against Jihoon’s chest, not caring anymore about anything else as he let all the tears out. “Please don’t ever stop _wanting_ me like you do now. I love you, I love you, _I love you_ ,” All his cards were on the table, his heart was on his sleeve, and Park Jihoon was in his arms.  This was not something he was willing to let go ever again.

 

“I couldn’t even if I tried,” Jihoon laughed despite the tears falling down his own cheeks as he pulled Daniel’s head tight against him - the man’s arms wrapped tight around his waist and his shirt starting to soak with tears. “I love you _so bad_ , Kang Daniel.”

 

Jihoon lets himself enjoy this now as he forgets about everything else. There were no court cases, no mock trials, no Lee Hyun, no Ong Seongwoo, no Lai Guanlin, no legal firm, no lawyer, no secretary - because the man in his arms was all that mattered.

 

 

And if they had each other, he knew everything will be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK THAT'S ENOUGH TEARS IN ONE FIC! WELCOME TO THE GOLDEN AGE
> 
> Will most probably edit some things in this (law students/lawyers who read this I apologize BECAUSE I'M MAKING THIS ALL UP pls dont hurt me) but more or less I hope this diffused all the tension and the angst in the previous chapters :3 
> 
> Thank you so much for the comments and kudos, as always ;_____; Seriously you guys are the reason I'm able to keep a relatively regular update! 
> 
> Feel free to scream at my DMs on [Twitter!](https://twitter.com/cheesehoonie)  
> Just two more happy chapters to go and we're done~!


	11. Across the Universe

Daniel wakes up alone in bed again, and for a few seconds his heart drops. The sun was streaming in through the curtains, illuminating the entire room and its bright wooden floors and the minimalist furniture that had his white bed as the centerpiece.

 

_ Did I just dream of everything?  _ Daniel tucks his legs into himself.  _ Was it too good to be true? _

 

He can feel a sob rise up in his throat - because last night was maybe too surreal. He had told Jihoon he loved him and Jihoon had said he loved him back. And everything else after that was a blur - the tears, the weight lifting from his chest, the kisses and the kisses and the kisses all through the night as he wasn’t  _ alone _ for the first time in years when he fell asleep. 

 

But now suddenly there was an empty space beside him and maybe none of that had happened after all. Daniel reaches out to trace the space and found it still warm, which shocks him up to a sitting position.

 

“Good morning?” Jihoon called from the doorway, dressed up in yesterday’s clothes.

 

Daniel blinks and blinks again, just to make sure he wasn’t still sleeping. 

 

“Pinch me,” Daniel said, holding out his arms. Jihoon looks confused but gives a gentle smile anyway, padding over to Daniel’s bed and reaching out to pinch him. However, instead of pinching, Jihoon simply grabs at Daniel and wraps those strong arms around his waist, burying his face in Daniel’s hair. 

 

“I’m right here,” Jihoon smiles, stroking at the bed-mussed hair. “I told you, I’m not leaving.” 

 

Daniel tightens his hug on Jihoon and breathes him in. 

 

“Come back, then,” Daniel whispered after a few minutes of just holding Jihoon beside him. “I miss you around. I miss working with you.”

 

Jihoon bites his lip as he tears himself away and sits on the bed, facing Daniel. “I can’t.”

 

Daniel looks hurt for a split-second, before asking, ”Is it because of...your boyf-”

 

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Jihoon rolled his eyes as he nestles himself further into Daniel’s arms. “You made me break his heart so you better take responsibility and never let me go.”

 

Daniel nodded earnestly, and Jihoon laughed at how adorable Kang Daniel was when he wasn’t trying hard to look dominating.

 

“I’m going back to law school,” Jihoon announced as he took Daniel’s hand and rubbed his fingers soothingly over the taller man’s knuckles. “Because if I ever want to be your partner, an actual  _ partner _ , I can’t keep getting sandbagged by people thinking I’m just a secretary.”

 

Daniel looked Jihoon in the eyes and gave his hand an encouraging squeeze. 

 

“Then I’m with you all the way,” Daniel smiled, leaning forward to plant a kiss on Jihoon’s forehead. “I can’t wait.”

 

Jihoon closed his eyes. This felt a lot like dreams coming true, the gold at the end of an extremely long chase for a rainbow - but there was still one more thing to take care of.

 

“But before anything else,” he said, standing up from the bed and throwing Daniel a look that said  _ you should be getting ready, too _ . “You’ve got a case to win.”

  
  


*******

  
  


Daniel entered his office to find Seongwoo and Woojin already casually chatting inside. 

 

“Honestly, Daniel,” Seongwoo throws his hands up in mock complaint. “How does Boa live with you stepping into the office just when people are about to break for lunch?” 

 

“I bring in more money than all of those 9-to-5ers combined,” Daniel replied without missing a beat. “And I happen to be really, really good-looking.” 

 

Woojin gags at the side. 

 

“What’s Woojin doing here?” Daniel asked, tilting his head towards Seongwoo. 

 

“His boss loaned him to me,” Seongwoo shrugged. “That Minhyun fellow is not that bad - not to mention handsome as hell.”

 

Woojin gags again. “Can we stop talking about handsome people and start going through the obliteration plan?” 

 

Woojin hands over a single paper to Daniel and the lawyer scanned through, Seongwoo and Woojin waiting for a reaction.

 

“How did you come up with all of this?” Daniel raises an eyebrow.

 

“It was Jihoon’s idea, but he didn’t have the resources to work with,” Seongwoo leaned back, and Daniel feels a swell of pride in his chest. Jihoon honestly was so much more than a legal secretary, in more ways than one. “So Woojin and I have been working to gather everything you’ll need. Speaking of, where is Jihoon?”

 

“Already working on it,” Daniel beamed. 

 

“We already set the meeting with Lee tonight,” Woojin handed the entire case file to Daniel as Seongwoo said, “Bring this one home, Kang Daniel.” 

 

“Run that bastard down,” Woojin added. 

 

Daniel looked at Woojin and Seongwoo for a split second before flashing them a signature smirk. “That asshole wouldn’t know what hit him.”

 

***

 

“Kang,” Lee Hyun smiled as he walked into the boardroom at 9PM. “I wasn’t expecting you to come around this quickly.” He pauses for a bit before adding, “Oh wait, I did. You really have a thing for that secretary of yours, don’t you?”

 

“I didn’t expect you to be a spineless asshole,” Daniel replied as Lee took the seat across him, glaring at the man with steely eyes before snapping his fingers. “Oh wait, I did.”

 

“No need for the snark,” Lee answered coolly, throwing a smile that said he was sure of locking Daniel behind bars. “Keep up that attitude in jail and you’re in for a rough time.”

 

“Only he’s  _ not  _ going to be in jail so he could be as rude to you as he wants,” Jihoon entered the boardroom with a bunch of folders in his hands and strode over to the seat beside Daniel. Jihoon had his hair styled up and wore a plain white dress shirt that looks like it was a few sizes too big, and it tucked into a pair of gray slacks. 

 

“If it isn’t the perfect little secretary,” Lee greeted, eyeing Jihoon from head to toe. “To think you’d be Kang Daniel’s achilles’ heel.” 

 

“I’d love to lodge my heel down your throat,” Jihoon replied as he shot a look straight at Lee Hyun’s eyes. “But I’d let the guys at prison do that for me.” 

 

“Excuse me?” Lee sat up. 

  
“That’s right,” Daniel intervened, leaning forward on his seat. “We’re filing a countersuit against  _ you _ , and this time, we’re not just talking 20 years in jail.” 

 

Lee scoffed. “Like you have any proof for anything.”

 

“Perjury,” Jihoon’s voice came cold as he threw a file on the table, and he continued throwing one file per word he said - each one a motion that had been typed up the day before. “Fraud, embezzlement, assorted felonies.”

 

“Even sleeping with another woman behind your wife’s back,” Daniel added. “If you as much stuck a toe out of line, we’ll have dirt on you.”

“Not to mention your history of harassing other lawyers into some form of settlement,” Jihoon finished as he threw a particularly thick folder roughly on top of the pile of motions he already had. “Pick your poison, Lee.” 

 

Lee’s face went white as a sheet. “You have no proof of this! These - these are all conjecture,” he sputtered. 

 

“Oh?” Daniel raised an eyebrow as he picked up his phone. “But we are already in touch with witnesses, and as of this moment, one of our associates is on his way to file a warrant against you. I just need to call him once you’ve picked which crime you want to go to jail for.”

 

“This is madness! I haven’t taken part in fraud or felonies!” Lee stood up, defensive and color creeping up his cheeks. “I’ve only ever faked evidence to put cocky bastards like you in jail!”

 

“And have you ever succeeded in putting cocky bastards like me in jail with your underhanded tactics?” Daniel smirked, fiddling with his burgundy tie. The one that meant he plans to win today.

 

“Of course!” 

 

“Well, I guess that’s all we needed to hear,” Jihoon smiled sweetly at Daniel, swiveling his chair to face the blonde.

 

“That’s all the court needs to hear anyway,” Daniel smiled back, and Lee looked bewildered. 

 

“What do...you mean?” he interrupted. Jihoon shot him a small smile as he stood up and walked over to Daniel’s side, before snaking a hand down and pulling at Daniel’s coat, opening it up to reveal what was inside. There were listening devices attached to his lapels, and they had been recording the entire exchange.

 

“An admission of guilt being streamed to a senior partner over at the next room,” Jihoon explained, resting against Daniel’s seat. “I think that’s enough to put anyone in jail, don’t you think, Daniel?”

 

“I’d love to see him removed from the bar,” Daniel smiled as Jihoon let his lapels drop. 

 

Lee was white as a sheet and sweating bullets. This exchange was not supposed to go this way.

 

“So, do I call you on your bullshit bluff of an  _ insider trading case _ ,” Daniel said evenly, barely looking up at the man who was red-faced and huffing in front of him. “Or do you walk your face out of here to where I can never see you again?”

 

Lee gritted his teeth as he made to exit the room and rushed into the empty corridors. He was withdrawing the case because this was too much of a risk. 

 

“Lee,” Daniel followed into the corridor, calling after him with a stack of papers. “I think you dropped your balls back there.” 

 

“You asshole,” Lee snarled, drawing his hand back to land a punch on Daniel. He feels a hand stopping the arm, followed by a strong impact on his nose that made him reel back and fall sitting on the ground. He looked up to see Jihoon standing protectively in front of Daniel - and he did not expect that face to throw that kind of punch.

 

Lee rubbed his jaw as he stood up from the carpeted floor. “This is assault!”

 

“No, that’s just a warning, you  _ fucking wuss _ ,” Jihoon deadpanned, shooting daggers at the frazzled lawyer in front of him.

 

“Next time you come after him, you go through me first,” Jihoon threatened as he cocked his head back and cracked his knuckles while glaring at Lee with half-lidded eyes. “And trust me, next time  _ assault _ is the least of your worries.”

 

Lee glared at the two before quickly rushing to the elevators.

 

“I still don’t know why there was a plan to try to let him go,” Daniel mused as he sidled up beside Jihoon and throws an arm over the boy’s shoulder - using him as a human armrest. Jihoon lets him.

 

“Who said I had any intention of letting him go?” Jihoon scoffed as he crossed his arms. “I had that recording streamed over to the police outpost. They should be coming after him any minute now.”

 

“You _ do _ think of everything,” Daniel looked at Jihoon in surprise. Jihoon suddenly reached over to inside Daniel’s coat and for a split-second Daniel had to throw his head left and right to check if anyone was watching - but there was no one walking around that late in the evening. “Jihoon!” 

 

“Calm down, I was just turning the recording device off,” Jihoon grinned mischievously. “Can’t have the outpost hearing this as well.” 

 

“Hearing wha-” Daniel started, before Jihoon pulled at his tie as their lips met in a kiss. Jihoon took advantage of the fact that Daniel’s mouth was already open and quickly deepened the kiss, Daniel’s hand snaking down to his waist to hold him closer. He didn’t think victory tasted a lot like Jihoon, and he figured he could get used to this as he groans appreciatively at Jihoon wrapping both arms around his neck. 

 

Jihoon smiled into the kiss as he feels Daniel’s arm adjusting restlessly on his waist, and decides to tease the older boy further by pulling back slightly. Daniel’s mouth follows on instinct, and he pouts at Jihoon because he hasn’t had nearly enough of this. Jihoon  _ winks -  _ and Daniel feels a shiver go down his spine when Jihoon dives back in with a rough bite on his lower lip, earning a soft moan from Daniel. 

 

“You little tease,” he growls, hands trailing lower to rest inside the back pockets of Jihoon’s pants before giving it a rough pull towards him. It was Jihoon’s turn to gasp. He stares at Daniel and grinds back, lips capturing Daniel’s again in a kiss.

 

Daniel pushes Jihoon against the wall, vertical slates of wood digging into the younger's back as he tosses his head back and groans as Daniel started kissing at his neck.

 

“Ehem,” Seongwoo’s voice came from the side, grinning as he passed by with Woojin in tow. “We know we just won, but you don’t see me and Woojin getting it on.”

 

Jihoon and Daniel break enough to watch the two pass by, and Jihoon shoots an appreciative glance at them. Much as Seongwoo teased and as gruff as Woojin appeared to be - this was the happy ending they wanted to see anyway.

 

Woojin rolls his eyes, “Ugh, get a damn room.” 

 

Jihoon shoots a look at Daniel and waited until Seongwoo and Woojin were out of earshot.

 

“Fileroom?” Jihoon asked as he batted his eyelashes at Daniel. 

 

Daniel’s eyes widened and he felt his ears getting even redder.

 

“Fileroom,” he nodded.

 

Jihoon led the way as they avoided making eye contact with the very few people who were left at the office in the middle of the night.

 

“Have I ever told you that I think you look hot when you’re mad?” Daniel teases as he jogs beside Jihoon.

 

“Have I ever told you I’m always tempted to judo-toss you onto your desk whenever you annoy me?” Jihoon shot back.

 

“ _ Kinky _ ,” Daniel replied, grinning.

  
  


*******

  
  


“When I find him, I’ll strangle him,” Jisung narrows his eyes as he walks around the office. Daniel’s Aston Martin was still in the parking lot so he figured that the partner was still working somewhere - and that huge child still owed him some case files. Again. 

 

He really should learn better than trust his crucial case files with Kang Daniel.

 

Jisung had scoured the entire office, and there was only one room left in the entire floor that he had not entered. Not since that incident weeks ago. 

 

But then again, Jihoon no longer worked at the office. Jisung grins as he makes his way to the file room. 

 

He is stopped in his tracks when he hears sounds coming from inside before waving it off.

 

“No, no, no, that’s not going to work agai-” Jisung tutted as he turns the knob and let himself in - only to hear Jihoon let out a gasp followed by a breathless moan, and it dawns on Jisung that this wasn’t a drill. “Shit.”

 

Daniel and Jihoon turn around to face the doorway, surprise written all over their faces. Jihoon was leaning forward on a desk, shirt haphazardly open to reveal a trail of red marks down his throat and across his collarbones, fingers grasping tightly at the corners of the table; while Daniel’s hair was all askew like it had been pulled this way and that, tie forgotten on the floor, and traces of Jihoon’s cherry lip balm all over his jaw. 

 

“Why me?” Jisung backpedaled and slammed the door, and he quickly walked off in an attempt to escape the image that he now had to bleach from his brain. “Why me, why me, why me…”

 

The two younger men froze as they listened to Jisung’s footfalls disappear. 

 

“Why’d you stop,” Jihoon whined as he tried to pull Daniel down for a kiss.

 

“Should I-,” Daniel murmured, tenatively dipping down to ghost his breath down Jihoon’s neck. “Should I go after him?”

 

“I’d leave it alone,” Jihoon bit his lips because  _ honestly, how many more distractions before he’s satisfied?  _ “Let the whole office know that you have all of Park Jihoon.” 

 

“ _ You _ don’t have to face them everyday,” Daniel faked a whine, but dips in to bite at Jihoon anyway. “I’m still a senior partner here.” 

 

“Why don’t we,” Jihoon licked his lips as he panted against Daniel’s skin. “Why don’t we continue this in the car, then?”

 

Daniel pauses for a while and Jihoon is almost afraid that he killed the mood.

 

“The first time I let you ride the Aston Martin, and you want to ride  _ me _ instead?” Daniel cocked an eyebrow as he smirked at Jihoon and the younger man felt his face burning up. He should be used to Daniel talking like this but it was usually stated as a joke and not something that was mere minutes from happening.

 

“You’re finally letting me ride the Aston,” Jihoon punched Daniel on the chest, earning a loud  _ oomf _ from the taller boy as he hopped down from his position and pulled at Daniel’s arm. “I’m trying to ride both of you at the same time, so just shut up and let’s go,” Jihoon growled, trying to mask his embarrassment.

 

“Damn,” Daniel tutted as he stopped in his tracks, halting Jihoon as well.

 

“What?” Jihoon hissed, impatient and needy. He nearly stamped his feet because  _ he really did not have time for this right now. _

 

“I’ll be doing a student in my car.” Daniel’s eyes were wide with surprise that for a split-second Jihoon had to rethink if he was dating a charismatic closer or an immature man-child. “That sounds so  _ hot _ .”

 

“You make it sound like it’s  _ illegal _ ,” Jihoon rolled his eyes but could not suppress the smile that crept up his lips. 

 

“It’s the most fun I can have without breaking the law,” Daniel grinned impishly before intertwining his hands with Jihoon’s to drag him out of the office and into the parking lot in record time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just the epilogue to go and we're done!!! I hope this chapter made up for any pain caused to you dear readers ;;;;;;
> 
> I think I'll miss working on this fic because I've been devoting my evenings and my time in traffic just writing it out (not to mention having the concept in my head since last year) AND NOW IT'S FINALLY ALMOST OVER  
> I might post last chapter in a week bec u know...I'll be too busy fangirling starting tomorrow xD
> 
> I'm thinking of starting a Model!Jihoon x Bodyguard!Daniel AU for Nielwink in the future - but giving myself time to enjoy the comeback first :D:D:D  
> Please leave comments and kudos as they're very much appreciated and your words really mean a lot to me <3 Like really, please do leave some words if you enjoyed reading any part of this fic in any way ;___; I especially love seeing which parts of the fic people enjoyed ;;;
> 
> Until next week for the cheesy fluffy last chapter~!


	12. Coffee's for Closers

“It’s not exactly primetime to acquire more shares,” Daniel reclines back on his seat, brown leather oxfords up on the table as he stares at the screen in front of the boardroom. 

 

“Well, I think it’s a worthwhile investment,” the metallic voice from the room speaker crackled in, Guanlin’s face scrunching into a confused look on the videoconference screen. 

 

“I’m saying it’s  _ not _ ,” Daniel flashed the young CEO a cheeky grin. “You can take my word for it, or I can pull in Seongwoo and he’ll say the  _ exact same thing _ , and then you’ll have to pay two senior partners.”

 

Guanlin rolls his eyes on the other side of the screen. “Daniel, just let me buy this stock,” he groaned, leaning back on his seat as well. It had been nearly 3 years of managing the client-lawyer partnership over quick international visits and videoconferences like these - with Daniel casually lounging in the boardroom and Guanlin taking the videocall from the comfort of his posh apartment back in Taiwan, wearing lifestyle sportswear instead of his usual three-piece suit. 

 

“I see you’ve decided to take the expensive Ong Seongwoo option,” Daniel clacked his tongue, putting both feet on the floor and rising to stretch a bit. “Just hang in there, let me drag that man here-”

 

“I’m trying to get a date with the CEO,” Guanlin admitted, voice coming too fast and too nervous. Daniel turns around to face the boy’s face on the screen. 

 

“I thought you were going to wait for my death and whisk away my Jihoon?” Daniel raised an eyebrow, mouth pulled into a smirk as he put both hands on his hips. 

 

“Weeds like you don’t die that easily,” Guanlin deadpanned as he leaned into his mic to whisper, but it only gave Daniel a better view of how red the CEO had turned at having to admit that he was making business decisions that were spurred by his lovelife. “And Jihoon would refuse to see me if I had you assassinated.” 

 

Daniel tried to suppress the laugh that was working its way up his throat. Guanlin was adorable even when he was threatening to steal away his boyfriend - he’d have to write a will that Jihoon ends up with this boy if he ever ended up kicking the bucket first. 

 

“Fine,” Daniel threw his hands up in mock exasperation and held up a file of documents. “Let me just get Seongwoo’s signoff on these and those stocks are all yours.”   

 

“Thanks, Daniel!” Guanlin leaned back on his seat, grinning with that gummy smile that made him look more like a teenage boy in a basketball jersey than a CEO who was just about to buy out a mid-sized company. 

 

“Just make sure that whoever you’re going after is a lot less cuter than Park Jihoon,” Daniel teased as he moved to walk out the room. “Otherwise my boyfriend will go all competitive and try to woo you instead.”

 

Guanlin’s eyes grew wide as he leaned into his laptop. “...you think that will happen?”

 

“Not a chance,” Daniel grinned, enjoying how easy it was to tease Guanlin. “Not as long as he has me, so just standby for a few while I get Seongwoo’s signature and then we can close this meeting.”

 

Guanlin rolled his eyes again as he waved a hand to dismiss his lawyer.  Daniel took a few steps out of the boardroom to signal to his new secretary - whose coral hair was a standout in his cubicle. 

 

“Daehwi,” Daniel called out, waving the file in his hand. “I need you to take this to Seongwoo within the next 5 minutes-”

 

“I’m a secretary, not an errand-boy,” Daehwi called back, annoyed at being interrupted from chatting with Jinyoung who was leaning on his cubicle. “And according to my clock, you have no pressing concerns that are preventing you from finding Mr. Ong on your own.”

 

“Daehwi,” Daniel tried to put on a stern expression as he walked up to the cubicle. Daniel rubbed his temples as he took the spot beside Jinyoung. “I don’t force you to make my coffee, and I don’t make you stay late at the office - you are not my errand-boy.” 

 

“You don’t ask me to do do that because your ex-secretary does all that for you,” Daehwi smiled sweetly, pressing a few more clacks into his keyboard before swiveling in his seat to face Daniel. “And I heard he also lets you bite him on occasion.” 

 

“Is there a secret exam for secretaries that forces you to develop an attitude?” Daniel whined, a blush creeping up his face for that  _ biting _ comment. “Or am I just unlucky in choosing who I hire?”

 

“Yes to the first, and I wrote the exam questions for the attitude test,” Daehwi snapped his fingers and swiveled back to facing his screen and an awestruck Jinyoung. “Ong Seongwoo is in the library if I’m not mistaken.” 

 

Daniel rolls his eyes as he turns on his heel. Daehwi was an amazing legal secretary, almost as good as Jihoon, but he came with twice the attitude. He had ranted about this to Jihoon one evening while they were eating chinese takeout on the floor while watching some obscure Netflix series, and the younger man just looked at him with an empty expression.

 

“He stranded me in five consecutive meetings when I forgot to buy him a bagel! Didn’t even give me time to go to the toilet!” Daniel had whined, dropping the takeout box and flinging himself onto Jihoon’s waist and scrunching the boy’s striped pajamas. “Come back and work for me, please,” the older man had pouted up at Jihoon, who was eating his noodles like there wasn’t an overgrown senior partner clinging onto him. 

 

“I would have put you in  _ six _ consecutive meetings,” Jihoon had replied without batting an eyelash before turning his gaze down at Daniel. “ _ Never  _ forget the bagel.” 

 

“But Jihoon,” Daniel whined like a spoiled brat as he plopped onto Jihoon’s lap as he laid down on the floor with limbs spread everywhere. 

 

“No buts,” Jihoon interrupted as he narrowed his eyes down at Daniel. “Don’t tell me you complained this much when I was your secretary.”

 

“I didn’t complain because I had a horrible highschool crush on you and your meanness, you  _ butthead _ , I spent all that time stopping myself from feeling you up in the office,” Daniel took Jihoon’s hand and pried off the chopsticks from his fingers. “Love makes you forget that your secretary is torturing you.”

 

A blush had crept down Jihoon’s neck then as he turned off the TV screen, dropped the chinese takeout, and proceeded to pepper Daniel’s face with a hundred butterfly kisses.

 

But now Daniel was lazily making his way into the firm’s library, missing Jihoon immensely even though it had only been a few days ( _ “Daniel, I’m reviewing for the bar exam, you’re too much of a distraction,” Jihoon had explained, leaving a note on his refrigerator in that chicken-scratch scrawl that he called handwriting. “When I get back, you are going to be calling me Attorney Jihoon even in bed.” _ ).

 

He swiveled the door to the library open only to find senior partner Ong Seongwoo locking lips with senior partner Hwang Minhyun in the corner. In his favorite corner.

 

“Uh,” Daniel breathed, unable to move in shock. 

 

Two heads spun around to meet his gaze, and Daniel had no choice but to register in his mind that both partners’ immaculate hairstyles seemed tousled out of place, and both half-open mouths were swollen from heaven-knows-how-long they were biting at each other. 

 

“Daniel,” Minhyun started, face surprisingly unfazed as he pushed Seongwoo away - the taller man fell over a pile of books rather ungracefully. 

 

“Minhyun,” Daniel replied, gulping. He knew that there were rumors between the financial emperor and the sharp-shooting Fantagio partner, but he didn’t think it was already at this level. This was Daniel-Jihoon-fileroom level.

 

“Daniel,” Seongwoo groaned from his position on the floor as he crawled into a sitting position. “Care to join us?”

 

This earned Seongwoo a kick from Minhyun and a sharp hiss. “Ack, that came out wrong,” Seongwoo stuttered, looking up apologetically at the serene emperor who had a sharp leather shoe poking at his shin.

 

“Care to- _ what _ ?” Daniel shook his head before turning around and holding up a piece of paper. “I just need this signed - fuck, Seongwoo. I’ll just leave...this...here. Hand it to Guanlin whenever you’re not otherwise occupied.”

 

Daniel’s line broke into a staccato pace as he placed the folder on the desk and made his way out of the library. He heard a small laugh (Seongwoo) and a lot of hissed whispers (Minhyun) before he was able to safely make his way back to the boardroom with Lai Guanlin on videocall.

 

_ So this is how Jisung feels all the time. _

 

“Did he sign it?” Guanlin twiddled his thumbs on the other side of the videoconference.

 

“Seongwoo will just call you back,” Daniel ran a hand through his hair. “He’s a bit - caught up with one of the partners.”

 

“Oh,” Guanlin replied before catching the stress etched on Daniel’s face. “Why do you look so shocked?”

 

“Let’s just say that this office needs a lot more CCTV monitors to prevent untoward incidents,” Daniel answered.  _ Now he really, really missed Park Jihoon. _

 

***

 

“I swear, Woojin, if you make me drink another shot of whisky, I wouldn’t be  _ brave _ , I’d be an  _ asshole, _ ” Jihoon snapped, pushing away the shot glasses that Woojin was threatening him with.

 

“You’ve only had, what, five?” Woojin sneered, pushing them back into Jihoon’s hands. “And you’re still shaking like you failed the bar, I think you could afford more liquid courage.”

 

“How are you even a convincing lawyer,” Jihoon growled, but took the shot glass anyway. Almost the entire firm was here as well - Boa near the bartender’s seat, Seongwoo and Minhyun uncharacteristically sitting too closely beside each other and exchanging whispers, Jisung eyeing the two senior partners cautiously, Jinyoung, Daehwi - even Daniel’s friends Jaehwan and Sungwoon were in attendance. Lai Guanlin even sent a “FIGHTING” emoji from Taiwan a few seconds back.

 

They were at another high-end bar, with Haknyeon on a quick videocall to down a shot of his own as the two drank down their sixth shot of the evening. 

 

“Congratulations, Jihoon,” Haknyeon had shouted from the phone as the three finished gagging from the whisky aftermath. “Or should I say, Attorney Park?” 

 

“I like Attorney Park,” Jihoon answered the phone in his hands, a little too loudly to compensate for the music in the bar. “It makes me feel like you two actually respect me.”

 

“I’ll respect you when you’ve made an honest man out of Kang Daniel,” Woojin laughed as he handed Jihoon a coke chaser. “But honestly, why here?” 

 

Jihoon refused to answer - but it was at this very bar that he made Daniel’s acquaintance years ago. He had seen Daniel at the district attorney’s office when he was doing his bachelor’s degree internship; and was more than impressed with how Daniel talked to clients and won cases, and he knew that there was something very special in the handsome young district attorney.

 

_ “I think you’re great, Kang Daniel,” Jihoon had sat across Daniel once one of the clients had left his table and the lawyer was left alone with a glass of scotch.  _ Daniel looked impeccable with his hair in a lazy tousled look falling on his forehead.  _ “But don’t you want to be greater?” _

 

_ “Interesting,” Daniel had smiled under the orange glow of the club lights. “Are you propositioning me, Mister-?” _

 

_ “Park Jihoon,” he had thrown a hand over the table and the lawyer had taken it in a vigorous handshake. “I may be a student now, but I’m about to change your life - and I don’t even need to get into your pants to do it - like what you’re thinking right now. Eyes up here, attorney.”  _

 

_ “He’s beautiful  _ and _ deadly sharp.” Daniel laughed before he sucked in air as he grinned and toasted his glass with Jihoon’s. “A student, huh?” Daniel smiled back as he sipped his scotch. “Too bad I’m in need of a legal secretary, not a law student.” _

 

_ “What makes you think I can’t do both?” Jihoon had grinned, too drunk on liquid courage to really understand what he was saying. _

 

Now Daniel was a senior name partner in one of the city’s top firms, and Jihoon had graduated law school - and they both had come a long way.

 

Jihoon was about to take one more shot glass from Woojin - because  _ hell, he didn’t even feel this nervous when he was taking the bar exam -  _ but he felt a hand take the glass from him and down the shot instead. Jihoon watched the whisky go down Daniel’s throat as his adam’s apple bobbed on his pale neck.

 

“How many has he had?” Daniel’s familiar voice asked Woojin, and Jihoon cursed inwardly at how long it took for his vision to focus on Daniel’s stupidly handsome face again. 

 

Woojin was about to reply a bloated number when Jihoon smiled up to answer, “Not nearly enough.” He reached up to plant a kiss on Daniel’s cheek. “Are you here to kidnap me again?” 

 

“Maybe,” Daniel teased as he produced a huge bouquet of pink carnations from behind him. “But it’s harder to kidnap lawyers than it was to kidnap legal secretaries. Congratulations, Jihoon.”

 

Jihoon blushed as he accepted the huge bouquet - someone was definitely overcompensating for the tiny bouquet he had years ago. He could hear hoots coming from their friends, and Daniel realized that there were a lot of people around to celebrate Jihoon’s passing the bar.

 

“Since when were you friends with Jaehwan…?” Daniel’s voice trailed off as Jihoon suddenly dropped on one knee. “Oh,  _ fuck _ .”

 

He could hear Jisung screaming  _ “oh hell no” _ somewhere in the background, and Daniel had to hiss. “Jihoon, I missed you and all, baby - but what the fuck -  _ here _ ?”

 

“What?” Jihoon hissed back, Daniel was totally ruining this moment.

 

“Are you drunk already, Park Jihoon?” Daniel was glancing worriedly and trying to get his boyfriend to stand up before the entire firm was given the  _ Jisung treatment. _

 

It took a few seconds for everything to register, and he could hear Woojin snickering in the background. Jihoon would have laughed at how worried Daniel looked too, if he weren’t deathly worried himself at what he was about to do next.

 

“Daniel, relax, I’m _not_ about to suck your dick in public in front of all our friends,” Jihoon snarled quietly. “Now shut up and just let me do this.” 

 

Jihoon and his liquid courage decided that it was now or never, and he chose to do this now. He gave a little cough and started with a clear voice. Jaehwan signalled at the bar owner and the loud music went soft - as all eyes in the bar suddenly focused on the tall blonde lawyer in his finely pressed Armani suit and his golden earrings looked down at the auburn-haired lawyer kneeling in front of him.

 

“I’ve always thought you were amazing,” Jihoon started, licking his lips out of nervous habit. “And I wondered what it would take for me to be worthy to stand with you. But as time passed I realized that I don’t want to be on your level, I wanted to be the one standing behind you, supporting you and making sure you’re happy, and to enjoy the radiance that is all you are.” 

 

Daniel’s eyes were starting to blow wide in shock, and he covered his mouth with one hand. There were warm smiles all across the room and Daniel could feel his heart trying to beat out of his chest.

 

“I have never been so inspired until I met you - you chase my gray skies away.” Jihoon continued, carefully watching as Daniel’s eyes started to tear. “You’re my sun and the brightest star in my life, and I hope to stand with you as your partner for the rest of my life.”

 

“Attorney Kang Daniel,” he started, producing a small box from his coat pocket and opening it to reveal the gold ring that he usually wore around his neck - with the same inscription inside it. “You once trusted me with your vows and your trust; now I hope to entrust you with mine. Will you…” Jihoon’s words caught in his throat. “Will you marry me?”  

 

The last word was barely out of Jihoon’s mouth when Daniel sank down to pull Jihoon up into a hug, shouting, yes, _ yes! -  _ and the room started applauding. All Jihoon could remember next was the taste of Daniel and whisky on his tongue, the two of them running back to the car with all their friends hooting and cheering after them, and Daniel’s radiant smile, his light touches, his soft groans, his heartfelt kisses, his warmth hovering over him, and the way he looked like he was lost in love throughout the entire night. 

  
  


***

  
  


The whole thing reminded him of a dream he had - but this time, it was in reality.

 

Jihoon walks over to the bed with a steaming cup of coffee. Daniel grins at how absolutely ethereal Jihoon looked like under sunlight - dressed only in one of Daniel’s oversized dress shirts, the hem just long enough to preserve the boy’s modesty but short enough for Daniel to want him in bed that exact instant. 

 

“I thought you didn’t drink coffee,” Daniel teased as Jihoon climbed into the bed to nestle beside him. His head rested lazily on the tufted headboard, enjoying the feeling of warm mornings and warmer companions. The early morning light streamed in through light linen curtains, casting an ethereal glow on Jihoon’s cheeks and coloring his auburn hair with fire. 

 

Jihoon leans in to press a kiss - slow, soft, sincere - on Daniel’s lips as he pulled the younger closer to him, careful not to spill the steaming drink on the immaculate white sheets. Jihoon’s lips fit his so well that Daniel couldn’t believe how he managed to last without them. Jihoon breaks the kiss and Daniel frowns at the loss of contact. 

 

“I wanted to try it out” Jihoon responded.  He slowly shuffles down between Daniel’s outstretched legs, the older accommodating the warmth of Jihoon’s presence with a huge smile on his face. He shifts behind Jihoon to pull the boy closer.

 

“May I have some?” Daniel asked as he rested his face on Jihoon’s shoulder to get a whiff of the coffee.

 

“You don’t get coffee,” Jihoon smirked as he took a sip of the americano, relishing the feeling of Daniel’s face nestling on his neck, nose slightly touching Jihoon’s cheek as Daniel enveloped him with a hug from behind. “Coffee’s for closers only.” 

 

“But I  _ am _ a closer?” Daniel looks at him, confused; arms still wrapped around Jihoon as they lounged comfortably on his bed.

 

“You haven’t closed this deal yet,” Jihoon teases as he holds up his hand, gold band worn on his ring finger. 

 

“How about I take care of that right now?” Daniel challenged, throwing the covers off of Park Jihoon and setting the steaming mug of coffee on the bedside table. 

 

Jihoon laughed as he weakly tried to push Daniel off, but the taller man was already beginning an assault on his neck, effectively drawing out more peals of laughter. Daniel kisses lightly and playfully, teasing Jihoon and tickling the boy in all the right spots.

 

“Daniel!” Jihoon yelled, breathless as he wrestled against the older boy, pinning him down with his legs onto the space beside him. He was able to overpower Daniel and lock the blonde’s hands on top of him against the headrest, and Jihoon rested his weight on Daniel’s torso as he straddled him playfully. 

 

Usually Daniel would sputter something along the lines of,  _ “Get off me, you’re heavy,” _ or  _ “I will bite at those thighs until you can’t wear shorts out,”  _ but today, Daniel looks at him with a serene expression and it was more than enough to make Jihoon blush.

 

There’s a few beats of silence between them.

 

“Park Jihoon,” Daniel whispers, hands still locked on top of his head by Jihoon’s own. “You have my vow, my trust, my  _ life _ , and my  _ love _ . Yours to have and to hold until death - or Woojin - do us part.”

 

“Objection, death and Woojin are the same thing, you idiot,” Jihoon tried to joke, but he was feeling something tugging at his heartstrings. Beyond the banter and the jokes and the familiar feeling of Daniel with him for the past three years, these small quiet moments still surprised him. 

 

He let go of Daniel’s hands and sat back, allowing Daniel to sit in front of him as well.

 

“Objection denied - don’t interrupt me when I’m practicing wedding vows,” Daniel hushed gently, placing a hand on Jihoon’s cheek. “You are the most beautiful person I’ve ever met, more inside than out - and trust me, the outside is hella beautiful already.”

 

Jihoon scoffed but felt his entire body warm up with butterflies. “You’re bad at this.”

 

“I’m trying, darling, I’m trying,” Daniel grins, tears also starting to appear on the corners of his eyes. “My whole life I thought I wanted to run away, run away from my family, run away with someone to feel loved, run away from my problems by drowning them with meaningless nights - but when I met you, I found out that there are things, there are  _ people _ , who would  _ stay.  _ And when you stayed by my side through all that, it made me realize that I didn’t want to run away in the first place.”

 

“You gave me a reason to stay.” Daniel wiped a tear from Jihoon’s cheek that the younger didn’t realize had already fallen. “And that has made all the difference in my life.”

 

Jihoon tried to force out a laugh to prevent a sob from coming up instead. “Attorney Park Jihoon, I don’t have a ring right now, but with this kiss - do you accept me, Kang Daniel, as the only one you’ll run to when you’re sad - and the first one to know when you’re happy, and to share with you all the moments that happen in between?”

 

Daniel places a kiss on Jihoon’s forehead, and it’s just so  _ warm,  _ so  _ sincere,  _ so  _ tender _ , that Jihoon just lets his tears flow. 

 

“I do, Kang Daniel, I do,” Jihoon replied, wiping away the tears that were running down his cheek. 

 

Jihoon rises to his knees as he takes Daniel’s head in his arms and kisses him lovingly on the lips. He holds Jihoon appreciatively, arms tight on his waist, and hopes that this moment never ends - because everything is perfect. They stay this way for a few moments, both bathed in sunlight and surrounded by white linen sheets that felt like springtime and sunlight and  _ happiness _ , and Daniel wondered if Jihoon felt exactly the same about him.

 

When they break the kiss, Jihoon is staring at him with those star-filled eyes and Daniel knows that the answer is yes, and that everything will be alright. 

 

“Do I get coffee now?” Daniel teased, staring lovingly at the auburn-haired boy in his arms.

 

“You get a lot more than coffee,” Jihoon replied, breathless as he climbed on top of Daniel. 

 

Daniel grinned into his kisses, and Jihoon knew that his sunshine was here to stay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End~
> 
> This was supposed to be a 7k word oneshot, but turned into so much more; I'm really thankful for all the readers who shared in this journey - I honestly really wrote this as an indulgent fic for myself but I'm so happy that a lot of you enjoyed it together with me ; u ; Despite all that emotional torture in the middle lol
> 
> I hope this ending was fluffy enough and not overtly cheesy (we have Guanlin with a new love interest, OngHwang happening at the office, Woojin being the best-est friend and getting over his puppy love feelings, Daehwi enjoying life as a secretary and being all close with Jinyoung, Jisung still permanently tortured by the fileroom, and Nielwink just being stupid butts despite both of them being lawyers now). 
> 
> I'll miss writing this AU I think ;___; sassy Jihoon and whipped Daniel will forever be my thing.  
> Please leave kudos and comments if you enjoyed it, and thank you for reading all the way through! Let's all be happy Wannables and Nielwink shippers in the Golden Age~!
> 
> Feel free to shout at me on DMs over at [Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/cheesehoonie) while I try figuring out which fic to work on next xD

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this because I miss my favorite Nielwink fics so much...so I wrote my own ;____; I've been watching Suits since the start of the year and I love it so...have a Suits!AU for Wanna One! Meaning, this is a Sexy Daniel x Dorm Jihoon kind of fic ha ha ha
> 
> (ALSO PLS NOTE THAT SUMMARY WHERE I HEAVILY REFERENCE TWO WORLDS COLLIDE BY BAPALDEUL AKA ONE OF THE BEST FICS IN THIS FANDOM HNNG)
> 
> Meant this as a oneshot but I can only write so much in one go...hope to finish the story before the month ends! (I'm still holding off on ending I Like You a Latte and continuing Gameboys haha pls dont kill me) Also please ignore any mistakes I make with law school stuff and legal terms...I swear I'm just picking up all I know from a TV series :--)
> 
> Kudos/comments are greatly appreciated! I'm not even a ~real~ writer but reader feedback always motivate me to finish fics!


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